2020 Review: Notable Politicians, Public Figures Deaths

The year 2020 witnessed death of prominent politicians and public figures in various fields around the world:

Hosni Mubarak (91 years): President of Egypt for three decades, from 1981 until his ouster after the "January 25 Revolution" in 2011.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said (80 years old), godfather of the modern renaissance in the Sultanate of Oman, where he ruled for five decades.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (91 years): Emir of Kuwait since 2006. He drew a political march full of historical events and mediation that made him the "dean of diplomacy" and the "wise man of the Arabs."

Saeb Erekat, 65, chief Palestinian negotiator and secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa (84 years old), Prime Minister of Bahrain and holder of the longest term of prime minister in the world.

Walid Muallem (79 years), Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the most prominent figures of power in Syria.

Qassem Soleimani (62 years), the Iranian military commander who was assassinated by a US air strike near Baghdad Airport.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, 62, Iran’s senior-most nuclear scientist who was assassinated near Tehran on November 27,2020, by remote-controlled weapon.

Pierre Nkurunziza (55 years old): President of Burundi from 2005 to 2020 and former rebel leader of the Hutu people during the civil war (1993-2006).

Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, the prime minister of Ivory Coast, who died suddenly of a heart attack and whose death plunged the country into a political crisis.

Pascal Lissouba (88 years old), the first president of the Republic of the Congo after multi-party elections, who lived his last years in exile in France after his rule was overthrown in 1997.

Kaing Guek Eav, nicknamed "Comrade Duch" (77 years old), one of the most important leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

George Bizos, 92, is a South African lawyer best known for defending Nelson Mandela and a prominent human rights activist against the apartheid regime.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, is dean of the US Supreme Court and an icon of the progressive left in the United States.

Jerry John Rawlings (73 years), the ruler of Ghana for two decades, first as a military leader and then as an elected president.

Mamadou Tandja, 82, president of Niger from 1999 to 2010.

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 94, president of France between 1974 and 1981. His reign witnessed milestones in modern French history, including the legalization of abortion and the inauguration of the first express train lines.[gallery columns="1" jnewsslider="true" jnewsslider_title="2020 Review: Notable Politicians, Public Figures Deaths" ids="188844,188845,188846,188847,188848,188849,188850,188851"]