Last Sunday, YWN-Israel reported Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder in a German hospital. He has not been seen since and this resulted in serious rumors throughout Egypt that their leader was dead. State officials however insist the rumors are just that, lacking any factual reality.
Officials add the president’s condition is good, and he is recuperating with his wife and family at his side.
A number of Arabic internet sites reported the president died on the operating table, but those reports vanished a short time later.
Andrew Moran at Digital Journal:
This is not the first time that such speculations have occurred, however. Mubarak’s health has been a constant issue since he became President in 1981, which created many rumors. Many members of the media have been arrested and even given a prison sentence over articles relating to the President’s health.
The frantic re-tweeting and attempts to get further information were in full swing Saturday afternoon after reports that Russian television ran a story saying the Egyptian president was dead.
“I wonder if Mubarak really has died, maybe they want to delay [the] announcement till we’re over Tantawy’s death? Lest Tantawy takes spotlight?” wrote one Twitterer concerning the possible death of the president.
It is the question that will surely continue until either confirmation comes from the government or the president is seen in good health.
Rumors have been ongoing for the past three days after local state-run media reported that the aging president had tissue removed in surgery, but that he did not have cancer. They said he had been taken out of the intensive care unit in a German hospital and was in stable condition. It is unclear at this point what the exact situation is in Germany.
“What’s interesting, though, is that we’ve been hearing the same bit of news over Mubarak for 3 days now. Weird, isn’t it?” asked another Twitter user.
Despite the online chatter, Egyptian officials have denied that Mubarak has died. This comes only days after Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia at the age of 82.
Here is what is publicly known. As always, the caveat must be made that Egypt exercises heavy-handed press censorship on the press. Also keep in mind that Mubarak’s health is among the most taboo subjects in the Egyptian press: Journalists have been jailed in the past for writing about Mubarak’s health. So all this, again, is written with a grain of salt.
Hosni Mubarak traveled to Heidelberg University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany two weeks ago to have a growth removed from his small intestine and to have his gall bladder removed. Three public statements were made in the past week.
The first, by Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali, is a week old:
“The state of the president’s health continues to improve two days after the operation […] Over the coming two days, the medical team treating the president will make a new report on the president’s health condition.”
The second is from Dr. Markus Buechler, a pancreatic surgery specialist at Heidelberg. He reported that benign tissues were removed from Mubarak a few days later and that he was in the ICU:
“The final pathology report has confirmed the benign nature of the tissues removed during the surgery […] President Mubarak’s convalescence phase in the coming days will include increased physical mobility to recover from all the effects of the surgical intervention. […] President Mubarak’s overall medical condition continues to improve in a satisfactory manner. Yesterday he was transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular room in our hospital. […] He is also expected to gradually return to normal diet. The president will remain during this phase under our medical care and our direct and continuous supervision.”
The third statement was made on Sunday morning, German time, again by Buechler. This one was much more curt:
“Mubarak is progressing normally.”
Note that none of the hospital statements said anything about when Mubarak would be released.
In a strange bout of timing, Egyptian authorities decided to ban Skype.
If Mubarak is indeed dead, a power struggle is expected between his hand-picked successor, son Gamal Mubarak, military/intelligence candidate General Omar Suleiman and former International Atomic Energy Head Mohammed el-Baradei, who recently returned to Egypt to a flurry of public acclaim.
Once again, we do not know if Mubarak is alive or dead. We do know that the wall of silence around his hospital stay, however, is strange even for these circumstances. But most important of all, Mubarak is 81 years old. World leaders who have reached that age, frankly, do not tend to stay for long.
Joe Weisenthal at Business Insider:
Chalk this up as MAJOR UNCONFIRMED RUMOR. But we thought you should know that it’s out there.
For what it’s worth, the same rumors bubbled up in 2004.
Here’s what our Gregory White observes:
Mubarak’s death would start a fight for power in Egypt, with Mubarak’s family in line to win due to the loyalty of the secret police and military. The Muslim brotherhood, staunch opponents of Egypt’s ambiguos position on israel would be second choice. Their sizable membership, along with renewed anti Israel sentiment due to the 1500 new settlements Netanyahu approved, could increase populist sentiment around the party. At best they will be appeased, at worst they’ll be jailed and beaten.
An outside option is the pro liberalisation group which would like to see the state’s more than 50 percent grip on the economy abate.
United states middle east envoy Richard holbrooke will have a more difficult visit to Israel this week than previously imagined if this rumor proves true.
President Hosni Mubarak appeared on Egyptian state television talking with his doctors on Tuesday — his first appearance since an operation in Germany 10 days earlier. The broadcast followed a swirl of rumors and speculation over the 81-year-old president’s health since what doctors said was the removal of his gall bladder on March 6. The Information Ministry issued photographs and video of Mr. Mubarak, below, sitting and talking with his doctors at Heidelberg University Hospital.
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