Talaat al-Sadat, the last head of Egypt's now disbanded former ruling party, died of a heart attack at the age of 64 in Cairo on Sunday, state television reported. Al-Sadat, a nephew of late president Anwar al-Sadat, took over the leadership of the National Democratic Party (NDP) after a popular revolt forced Hosny Mubarak to step down as president in February.
He pledged to rejuvenate the disgraced party and "purge" it of allegedly tainted members. But in April, a court ordered the dissolution of the NDP and the transfer of its assets to authorities. Weeks later, he set up an opposition party.