Mubarak shown speaking on TV in hospital
Published: Mar 20, 2010 01:23 Updated: Mar 20, 2010 01:23
CAIRO: Egypt's president, in Germany recovering from gall bladder surgery, was shown on state television on Friday making phone calls in what may be the first signs of him resuming political activity after the operation.
The footage of him in hospital was the first to be aired with President Hosni Mubarak speaking on television since he had surgery on March 6. Earlier footage, aired on Nile News on Tuesday, had not broadcast the president's voice.
The report did not say when Mubarak would be discharged.
However, the president was shown speaking on the telephone saying "next week,” but it was not clear what the question was.
Mubarak, 81, who has ruled Egypt for almost three decades, had his gall bladder removed and was returning steadily to health, the medical team treating him in Heidelberg University Hospital said last week.
Mubarak, who took power in 1981 and has never appointed a vice president, handed over temporarily to his prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, before the operation.
Egypt's benchmark index fell as much as 6 percent last week over concerns about Mubarak's health and the possible seriousness of his condition, but has recouped more than half those losses since Tuesday.
Egypt's state news agency reported on Friday that Mubarak had contacted Nazif, several ministers and the speakers of both houses of parliament.
The agency also said Mubarak contacted Saudi's King Abdullah to discuss regional developments and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to discuss preparations for the Arab summit to be held in Libya this month. Mubarak also signed a number of a presidential decrees including appointing Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb as new head of al-Azhar, state television said on Friday.
Mubarak has not said if 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.
