Author and geographer whose works include The Character of Egypt, Arab's Oil, and The Contemporary Islamic World Geography.
He received his bachelor's degree from Cairo University's Department of Geography and subsequently studied at the University of Reading (UK) on a scholarship.
He was found dead, with burns covering the lower half of his body, in 1993. He may have been killed by the Mossad (the Egyptian Intelligence Agency).
His father was fired from his teaching job for taking part in political demonstrations during the 1919 Egyptian Revolution.
He and Nicholas Crane (author of Two Degrees West) both rose to fame as geographers.
