BERLIN, 21 June 2004 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has temporarily delegated his powers to his prime minister after traveling to Germany yesterday for an operation on a slipped disc, officials said.
Egyptian state television quoted a presidential decree as saying Mubarak, 76, had delegated his powers to Prime Minister Atef Obeid during his absence. He is due to undergo surgery in Munich today.
“Prime Minister Atef Obeid will take up temporarily the constitutional and legal powers and jurisdictions of the president of the republic until he returns to take up his duties,” state television quoted the presidential decree as saying.
The operation is normally a simple procedure and expected to last just 40 minutes.
Concerns about Mubarak’s health arose after he postponed meetings this month with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and then with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. But he appeared in public last Wednesday, standing and talking to reporters about Egyptian plans to help the Palestinians if and when Israel withdraws from Gaza.
Last November he collapsed briefly during a speech to parliament.
Yasser Reda, Egypt’s deputy ambassador in Berlin, said Mubarak had arrived in Munich and was on his way to the hospital. “Everything is OK,” he said. “He is in good shape. It is a routine operation. Nothing serious.”
During the operation, surgeons will insert a microscopic endoscope in Mubarak’s lower back to remove displaced cartilage, doctors in Egypt said on Saturday.
