Mubarak Returns to Egypt; Succession Debate Persists

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Source: NYT

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak arrived back in Egypt on Saturday, three weeks after undergoing an operation in Germany, ending a period of intense speculation over the state of his health but maybe not about the future of his country’s leadership.

Mr. Mubarak, who is 81 and has been president since 1981, has “fully recovered,” according to the final medical report issued by the team that removed his gallbladder and a benign growth.

He did not, however, walk down the stairs of the plane. He descended, alongside the first lady, on an escalator. He then walked to shake hands with some of the country’s highest officials, who were waiting to greet him, including the chiefs of the armed forces and intelligence, leading members of his political party, and top Muslim and Christian figures.

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Mr. Mubarak’s fifth term as president ends in 2011, and he has not announced whether he plans to run for another six-year term. He has not appointed a vice president, and there is no clear successor in sight, though it is widely believed that he has been grooming his younger son, Gamal, to be the candidate of the governing National Democratic Party.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/world/middleeast/28egypt.html