Heikel showered with praise and criticism at once

Cairo: For his followers, he is the ustaz (a mentor). For detractors, he is a political chameleon.

More than three decades after quitting his post as the editor of the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram, Mohammad Hassanein Heikel a close friend of late Egyptian president Jamal Abdul Nasser continues to rivet attention in the homeland and beyond.

Heikel, now over 80, is currently at the centre of an acrimonious controversy over his credibility, between government-run and independent publications.

Earlier this week, the semi-official magazine Rose al-Youssef hit the newsstands with a cover story screaming "Heikel the propagator of lies". This was the second week in a row in which the magazine condemned Heikel as a "wily clown".

Accusing Heikel of vainglory, Abdullah Kamal, the young editor of Rose al-Youssef says: "He is at odds with the present regime (of President Hosni Mubarak), who has left him out in the cold."

Heikel was one of a dozen Egyptian intellectuals, briefly jailed in September 1981 by the then president Anwar Al Sadat, a few weeks before the latter's slaying by Muslim militants.

Upon taking over, Mubarak freed the detainees, including Heikel, who later antagonised the Mubarak government apparently due to his criticisms of the system.

"Heikel labours under the illusion that he is still the unchallenged writer, supported by a TV show, at least four weekly newspapers, a wide network of public relations and a large following," added Kamal.

Rarely seen on state-owned Egyptian television, Heikel has been a guest of a TV show on the widely popular Qatari satellite channel Al Jazeera since January.

In the weekly show, named after him, Heikel reminisces about his experience as a journalist with in-depth remarks on changes in Egypt since the mid-20th century.

He has been an outspoken critic of Mubarak's domestic and foreign policies, including an alleged plan of grooming Mubarak's son Jamal to succeed him.

Mubarak, 77, and his son have denied such a plan on several occasions. Heikel's comments on Al Jazeera are usually spread across pages of opposition and independent Egyptian newspapers.

"No one can deny the pivotal role played by Heikel with Nasser," said Abdullah Al Senawi, the editor of the Nasserist weekly Al Arabi. "Heikel was the only one, who could go to the private room of Nasser in his home."

Al Senawi added that Heikel wrote most speeches of Nasser, who used to send copies of official documents to him in the belief that he was the most qualified to write about the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. "Nasser was right in this belief," stresses Al Senawi.

Heikel also served as minister of national guidance under Nasser.

The writer is a journalist based in Cairo