Anwar el-Sadat had military training. In World War II he fought against
the British dominance of Egypt and was imprisoned for several years.
After the war he joined the officers who under Nasser's leadership
deposed the pro-English King Farouk in 1952.
Nasser died a few years after Egypt's defeat by Israel in 1967, and
Sadat took over as President. He broke Egypt's links with the Soviet
Union, and sought US support in recovering territories lost to Israel. In
the autumn of 1977 Sadat undertook a bold journey to Jerusalem,
where he offered Begin a peace treaty in return for recovery of the
occupied Sinai peninsula.