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| Africa North | |
| Mubarak shown on TV after operation | |
| 2010-03-17 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian television on Tuesday aired footage of President Hosni Mubarak for the first time since his March 6 surgery in Germany, as his doctor described him as "upbeat and in very good spirits." "See? Toldja he wasn't dead!" "Of course he's not dead! Dead people don't drool!"
Mubarak, 81, had his gallbladder and a growth removed from his small intestine in an operation at the University of Heidelberg hospital. In footage apparently recorded Tuesday morning, a pale looking Mubarak in a dressing gown sat in a chair talking to doctors. The president had made no appearances in public or on television since the operation and no pictures of him in hospital had been published, causing a stock market dip on Monday over speculation about his health. "I met with President Mubarak early this morning as part of our daily routine medical checkup. He was upbeat and in very good spirits as usual," Dr. Markus Buechler of Heidelberg University Hospital said in a televised statement. "His resolve and will power that we witnessed all last week was very obvious this morning as he looks forward to returning to normal activities," he said, adding that no further daily laboratory tests were required. Mubarak has no clear successor, which unnerves Egyptian and foreign investors because it is not clear who could follow in power and whether a successor would pursue the same economic policies of his cabinet that have been praised by executives. Despite worries about the continuation of policy, most investors and analysts expect a relatively smooth hand over in any transition with little likelihood of significant unrest. Mubarak, who came to power in 1981, handed powers temporarily to his prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, before the operation He has not said whether he will run again for a sixth six-year term in the 2011 presidential election. Many Egyptians believe that if he does not, he will try to hand power to his politician son, Gamal, 46. Both Mubaraks deny any such plan. Mubarak's fifth six-year term as president ends in 2011. During a speech in 2005, he said he would stay in power until his "last breath." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 TOPIX > MUBARAK RECOVERY FAILS TO EASE CONCERNS [mainstream fears as per POST-MUBARAK]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-03-17 23:55 |