Cairo: Family of Egypt’s iconic guitarist Omar Khurshed has announced accepting condolences over his death nearly 40 years after he was killed in a car crash in Cairo.
His brother Ihab has made the announcement, suggesting that Safwat Al Sharif, Egypt’s ex-information minister who died last week, stood behind the famous musician’s death.
Al Sharif was a prominent official in the era of late president Hosni Mubarak who resigned in 2011 after a popular revolt against his rule. Al Sharif was also the chairman of the Shura Council under Mubarak and an intelligence officer in the 1960s.
Omar was killed in May 1981 after an anonymous car hit into his car on the famous Pyramid Road, witnesses said at the time. He was 36. The case was later closed due to lack of evidence.
However, Ihab believes that the crash was not by accident.
Legal request
“My brother was killed on purpose,” he told private television station MBC Masr Saturday night. He claimed that his demise came after Omar had demanded Al Sharif to keep away from Soad Hosni, a renowned Egyptian actress, who died in London in 2001 under mysterious circumstances.
“Omar’s punishment was killing,” Ihab said, arguing that perpetrators of such incidents do not leave evidence behind. He ruled out filing a legal request to reopen investigations into the case. There was no immediate comment from Al Saharif’s family..
Omar rose to renown after playing the guitar in bands of several of the Arab world’s most famous singers including Om Kolthum, Abdul Halim Hafez and Farid Al Atrash.
Omar also starred in several musicals. In 1973, he co-starred with late Lebanese singer Sabah a film titled “Guitar of Love”.
