The son and apparent heir of Egypt's president was in the United States Wednesday amid speculations that he is being prepared to inherit the presidency.As President Hosni Mubarak hosted an international conference in Sharm el-Sheikh that included American's top diplomat Hillary Clinton, his son Gamal held a series of under-the-radar meetings with members of congress and foreign policy experts.
Mubarak, who also heads the influential Policies Committees of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), spent two days in Washington, D.C. where he reportedly met with Senator John Kerry and Rep. Howard Berman, who head the senate and house Foreign Affairs Committees and held a closed session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"I had a wide-ranging talk with Gamal Mubarak," Berman said in a statement. "I don't want to go into the substance of a private meeting, but I can say that Mr. Mubarak is highly intelligent and fully conversant in the issues affecting U.S.-Egyptian relations and Middle East peace. He is a strong and sensible advocate of Middle East peace and of close cooperation with the United States."