Egypt former spy chief Suleiman dies

Egypt's former head of intelligence Omar Suleiman, one of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's most senior officials, died in the United States where he was undergoing medical tests, Suleiman's assistant told Reuters on Thursday.   

"He was fine. It came suddenly while he was having medical tests in Cleveland," said the aide, Hussein Kamal, without giving a reason for Suleiman's death.   

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Suleiman was born in Qena, in the south of Egypt and left for Cairo at the age of 19 to enroll in Egypt's military academy and went on to receive advanced army training in Russia. He took part in both the 1967 and 1973 Middle East wars, though details of his service are unclear.

He was appointed Vice President by then-Ruler Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. He became deputy head of military intelligence in 1986, and its director in 1991. He was a central figure in Egyptian politics for more than 15 years after he took over the country's intelligency agency in 1993.

Mubarak placed Suleiman in charge of several internal and regional files including that of the Palestinian cause. He played the role of mediator on the Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gelaad Shalit.  

Sleiman was accused of mass torture of Al-Qaeda affiliated convicts, and was speculated to inherit the role of president.  

He joined the race for the country's presidency in April, but his candidature was rejected for failing to collect a sufficient number of signatures from 15 Egyptian governorates.

Both Mubarak and Suleiman survived an assassination attempt in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where they were due to attend an African summit in June 1995.

Suleiman is survived by his wide and three children; Abir, Dalia and Rania.