MUNICH, 22 June 2004 — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was hospitalized yesterday in a private orthopedic clinic here in preparation for possible surgery on a spinal disc.
Reliable sources say that the Egyptian leader had arrived at the clinic, called the Orthozentrum Muenchen, which has a special spinal unit. The clinic, located in the district of Harlaching, declined to provide any confirmation.
Mubarak, 76, flew into Munich on Sunday for what media reports said was to be an operation for a spinal disc injury. His arrival was confirmed by Egyptian Embassy officials in the capital Berlin.
A press spokesman there said by telephone that Health Minister Dr. Mohamed Awad Tageldin had accompanied Mubarak on the trip to Munich. Another embassy official said that Tageldin would be acting as the “official spokesman” on any medical news about Mubarak.
In Cairo, Egyptian media cited Tageldin as saying that the head of the medical team at the Orthozentrum had said doctors agreed to wait for two or three days on whether surgery was necessary or whether some other form of treatment would be more appropriate.
