Basic Background Information on Marwan
Ashraf Marwan was born in 1944 in the state of Egypt. His father worked in the presidential security division as a military officer. Marwan was recruited into the military at the age of 21 after graduating from Cairo University with a first-class degree in chemical engineering (Parkin, 2020). Marwan met Mona Nasser, the then President Nasser’s daughter, in 1965, and they fell in love. The love blossomed, and the couple married in 1966, bringing Marwan into the political circles. Marwan worked in the military for another two years before leaving for London to pursue a Master of Arts degree in chemistry.
Brief Overview of Marwan’s Story
Ashraf Marwan’s life is a combination of risk-taking and opportunist. The documentary “The Spy Who Fell to Earth,” based on Dr. Ahron Bregman’s book, explores Egyptian businessman and Israeli spy Ashraf Marwan (Taussig & Carter, 2019). Marwan rose to any occasion and took advantage of it for positive gains. However, against his expectations, president Nasser seems to dislike him. With Mona, the wife, and their son, Ashraf moved to London. A comprehensive claim that the allowance he was getting was not enough could have made him relocate to Europe.
Marwan’s story involved a conflict of interests between him, the wife Mona, and the father-in-law Nasser. Nasser disagreed with Ashraf about approaching the Israeli crisis, and Ashraf recommends that Nasser find a diplomatic settlement with Israel, with the US serving as a peace negotiator. On the other hand, Nasser was concerned that this would cost them Soviet Union support. Recognizing that the Soviet Union meant a lot to the president hope for waging war, Ashraf demands that Egypt break ties with the USSR. Marwan overheard the demeaning conversation between Mona and Nasser, becomes angry, and eventually plans revenge.
Marwan’s rise to double agent seems more of by chance than an intention or plan. Marwan was an opportunistic guy who would take any action regardless of principles or consequences. The former Mossad officers and the narrators in the documentary describe Ashraf as one who would cling to his gain’s good side (Taussig & Carter, 2019). For example, Marwan decided to contact the Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom to exchange crucial intelligence details allegedly for money.
The death of President Nasser opened up opportunities for Marwan. After Nasser’s death, vice president Sadat was sworn in as the President, and Ashraf quickly gained his trust by sharing incriminating information about the President’s rivals within the government. Marwan gradually rises the political position, finally becoming a prominent figure in Egypt. Marwan became the only person to be recognized as the greatest spy by both the Israelis and the Egyptians.
Indicators of Suspicious Activity That Support Ashraf Worked for Egyptian
Intelligence as a Double-Agent
The humiliation Ashraf received while under President Nasser was the first trigger to sharing intelligence information with Israelis. However, it was not until Nasser’s death that the Israeli embassy contacted him to be recruited as a spy. Marwan’s hatred for Nasser or the government would have died off by that time, and there would be no reason compelling him to continue with his ambition. Besides, he had already gained the trust of the current President Sadat and held a high position. Being so close to the President, Marwan shared information about being an Israeli spy with Sadat, and they schemed to use his intelligence to win back the Suez Canal. Ashraf even provided two false intelligence information pieces to Alex, in London, about imminent attacks.
The Impact of Ashraf’s Work
Marwan’s work had both a negative and positive impact. Ashraf was able to foster a deal between President Nadat and Gaddafi on oil supplies. Sadat trusted Marwan with information, including the intervention between Egypt and Libyan leader Gaddafi. Sadat and Marwan organized an unsuccessful attack on an Israeli airline to maintain the President’s dignity as not being a civilian killer. Muammar Gaddafi sought revenge after Israel shot a Libyan commercial plane carrying civilians, but Egyptian President Anwar Sadat refused to attack civilians. Knowing that if Egypt did not help Libya, it would have enraged Gaddafi and other Arab nations, Ashraf devised a plan to calm the situation. He traveled to Gaddafi to express Egypt’s support, but he ensured that their retaliatory actions are minimal.
Marwan’s role led to the defeat of the Israeli during Yom Kippur. Marwan planned to weaken the Israeli military to gain the upper hand and foster peace between Egypt and Israel. Having given Mossad two failed warming intelligence information, the third seemed to them as a fake, but he managed to gain their trust and provided them with the information that seemed incomplete. Ashraf’s time of attack eventually turned out to be wrong, leading to Israeli soldiers’ defeat.
Marwan’s work also had some negative effect on his relationships. Ashraf’s work cost him his family life and social life. Ashraf became suspicious of every move he made and felt the family was not secure. Ashraf’s political aspirations took over his personal life, reducing the once strong love for the wife. Mona became worried he is cheating on her with the blonde actress Diana. Ashraf finally died mysteriously in 2007, with the cause of death remaining unknown.
Conclusion
Marwan’s life was complicated, but he successfully was an intelligence officer until his death. I think the Egyptian Intelligence officers killed Ashraf to suppress the story and prevent any further spillage of secret information. Ashraf was once a hero but suddenly unmasked and exposed to the world, which could have been a risk to Israel and Egypt’s intelligence services. There is also a possibility that Ashraf continued being a double agent and his unmasking was a threat to the Egyptians.
References
Parkin, S. (2020). Who killed the 20th century’s greatest spy?. The Guardian.
Taussig, N., & Carter, P. V. (2019). The spy who fell to earth [Video]. Netflix. Web.