Egypt, 1981 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 7 June 1981, corresponding to a failed military coup attempt against President Anwar Sadat of Egypt in the tense final months of his presidency. Sadat's separate peace with Israel had enraged Islamists, particularly the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was recruiting military officers and accumulating weapons while waiting for an opportunity to strike. His last months in office were marked by internal uprising, including sectarian violence between Muslims and Copts in the Cairo suburb of el-Zawya al-Hamra in June 1981 that left many dead.
Following a failed military coup in June 1981, Sadat ordered a major crackdown that resulted in the arrest of numerous opposition figures, culminating in the September 1981 roundup of more than 1,500 people across the ideological spectrum. That roundup missed a Jihad cell in the military led by Lieutenant Khalid al-Islambuli, who would assassinate Sadat that October. The June 1981 coding corresponds to this failed military coup attempt against Sadat.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
65106071981
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Sadat survived the June 1981 coup attempt but was assassinated by Islamist officers on 6 October 1981.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
New York Times
The Times of India
Wikipedia
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →