Breaking: Egyptian ex President Hosni Mubarak dies

The Egyptian former President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years before stepping down due to he was overthrown in a popular uprising, has died at 91, state media reports.

President Mubarak who ruled the Arab world’s most populous country with an iron fist, stepped down in 2011, and was the second Arab dictator to fall in a wave of popular protests called the Arab Spring.

According to the former president’s son, Alaa Mubarak, disclosed that his father Hosni Mubarak died on Tuesday in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Cairo after undergoing a surgery since January 23.

Born in the Nile River delta, Mubarak graduated from the Egyptian military academy at Cairo in 1949. He had held command positions in the Egyptian air force and from 1966 to 1969 was director of the air academy. In 1972 President Anwar el-Sadat appointed Mubarak chief commander of the air force,

On October 6, 1981 Mubarak became president following Sadat’s assassination.