Widow of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat dies in Egypt

CAIRO (AP) – Jehan Sadat, widow of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, has died. She was 87.

In recent weeks, the Egyptian reported that Jehan had been hospitalized and was battling cancer.

Born in 1933, Jehan Safwat Raouf married Sadat, then a military officer, in 1949.

During his presidency she pushed for legislature protecting women’s rights.

After her husband was assassinated by Islamic extremists in 1981, she largely withdrew from public life, before re-emerging in later years as a commentator on the region’s conflicts.