Former prime minister Mohamed Abdul Qader Hatem was laid to rest on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, Defense Minister Sedqi Sobhi and a number of state officials took part in the funeral ceremony.

Hatem died Tuesday at the age of 97.

He served as the first minister of information in Egypt.

He was the founder of the state-run Middle East News Agency and the supervisor of the media strategy in the 1973 war.