Mostly the end....
"Mubarak expected to seek another term as Egypt’s president; 82-year-old’s health woes fuel much speculation" by Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press | October 22, 2010
CAIRO — A top ruling party official has given the strongest indication to date that Egypt’s 82-year-old president, Hosni Mubarak, will seek another six-year term of office in elections next year despite recent health troubles and speculation that he is grooming his son for power.
This is about the fourth article or so with this theme over the last year, folks.
Mubarak, who with nearly 30 years in office is already Egypt’s longest-serving ruler in nearly two centuries, would be almost 90 if he completes another full term. His health has been the subject of intense speculation after he had surgery this year to remove his gall bladder and a benign growth in the lining of his small intestine.
Mubarak, a former air force pilot and a close US ally, has since sought to dispel speculation with a busy work schedule, including foreign travel, strenuous field visits, and meetings with visiting dignitaries — all covered extensively by state media. He has looked relatively fit, despite significant weight loss after his operation in Germany seven months ago.
Then he must have gotten some new organs, huh?
Sometimes I think that is why some of the most rotten and evil people on the planet live so long, folks.
Related(?):
"A state-run newspaper yesterday defended a decision to publish a doctored photograph"
Can you really believe anything you see or read in the media anymore?
The comments by Alieddin Hilal of the National Democratic Party do not constitute the final word on Mubarak’s plans. But Hilal is the latest of several top party figures to indicate Mubarak intends to run.
“The next president is President Hosni Mubarak,’’ Hilal, who often acts as the party’s spokesman, said in an interview with US-funded Alhurra television....
Why is the broken American taxpayer funding war propaganda, 'er, television channels in the Middle East?
Many Egyptian political commentators have pointed to a possible split within the party leadership over Gamal Mubarak’s ambitions — with his supporters, mostly wealthy businessmen hoping to benefit even more if he becomes president, pushing for a succession sooner rather than later, and a small but powerful clique of older politicians tied closely to the father who are seen as reluctant....
And that is why this particular concern is in the paper so often. Neo-cons want to know the proclivities of the next leader of Egypt.
Hosni Mubarak never appointed a vice president, further complicating the question of who will succeed him. He was Anwar Sadat’s vice president when the late leader was gunned down by Muslim militants during a military parade in Cairo in 1981. He then became president and has held the office ever since.
Hmmmmmmmm.
See: Truth and secrets: The Sadat assassination trial 24 years on
Cui Bono?
Of course, we all know there are no government conspiracies, right?
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Related: Leading the Way in Egypt
Egypt: The More Things Change....
Also see: Evil Egypt
Mubarek's Dying Wish
That's what USrael and its mouthpiece media care most about: the next leaders being a pliable tool that will not help Palestinians.
"Police hold 65 election activists in Egypt" by Associated Press | October 27, 2010
CAIRO — Egyptian security detained 65 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood yesterday while they were hanging election posters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria for next month’s parliamentary vote, police said....
Hussein Ibrahim, a Muslim Brotherhood lawmaker and candidate, said the campaigners were arrested while hanging posters for one of the group’s four female candidates....
Excuse me?
Hussein said the posters contained the phrases “God is great’’ and “Praise be to God,’’ common phrases not associated exclusively with the group. He accused the government of targeting the group....
Governments target Muslims? Your kidding!
The ban on religious slogans by Egypt’s Electoral Committee forced the group to forgo its longtime slogan “Islam is the Solution’’ in favor of substitutes like “Change Is Our Path.’’
I'm not saying it is; however, I sure like the banking system.
Yesterday’s arrests bring the number of Brotherhood members arrested to about 250 since the group announced on Oct. 9 its decision to participate in the elections.
If Iran had done this it would have been covered for days.
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Also see: Egypt gripped by social unrest
More special treatment:
"Death penalty reversed for Egyptian tycoon" by Associated Press | September 29, 2010
CAIRO — An Egyptian real estate tycoon accused of hiring a hit man to kill his pop-star lover was spared the death penalty yesterday after a retrial changed his original sentence to 15 years in prison.
The reduced sentence of Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a prominent member of Egypt’s ruling party, for the brutal murder of a Lebanese singer is likely to spark new accusations of political influence. Moustafa, the builder behind the luxury suburbs for the rich that now ring impoverished Cairo, was close to the powerful son of Egypt’s president and has come to symbolize the close bond between businessmen and politicians....
The timing of the verdict came as a surprise because there had been no indication the retrial was ending and the defense still had more witnesses....
Translation: the government wants the story to just go away!
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FLASHBACK:
"Egyptian court orders new trial for multimillionaire; He was sentenced to die in slaying of popular singer" by Michael Slackman, New York Times | March 5, 2010
CAIRO - An Egyptian court yesterday threw out the death sentence against a multimillionaire former legislator convicted of paying millions of dollars to a retired police officer to murder a Lebanese pop diva, a case that riveted the Arab world with its mix of fame, money, and politics....
I guess YOUR MEDIA is just a s***ty as ours, 'eh Arabs?
The case also highlighted shifting power dynamics in the Arab world, as the authorities from the oil-rich United Arab Emirates pressed for the prosecution, forcing Egypt to put on trial a prominent member of the most elite stratum of society. Egypt does not allow citizens to be extradited, so it held the trial here.
Now, faced with its own severe economic crisis and the high-profile assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, those dynamics have begun to shift again, perhaps easing the outside pressure on Egypt.
Related: An Israeli Success Story
Poor Little Israel Has a P.R. Problem
Israel Dives Into the Dubai Shark Tank
Yeah, that is really turning into a nightmare for poor little Israel there.
“The decision could be correct, but there is no doubt that the general perception will be that it was his money and connections that did it,’’ said Osama el-Ghazali Harb, a political analyst, of the decision.
Courts are the same everywhere, huh?
When the former legislator Hisham Talat Moustafa, a wealthy, politically connected businessman, was convicted and then sentenced to death, those facts were cited as proof that Egypt had an independent judiciary and that even the rich and powerful were held accountable. With the decision to throw out the conviction, the reverse was immediately alleged, fueling the widespread sentiment that any rich, politically connected Egyptian can live outside the law.
Bush and Cheney are still walking around, right?
“I think the regime has a degree of sympathy for Hisham Talaat Moustafa for all the obvious reasons,’’ said Fahmy Howeidy, a political analyst and writer.
Moustafa, a former chief executive of Talaat Moustafa Group Holding, had an estimated net worth of $800 million in 2007. He was one of Egypt’s largest real estate developers and a member of President Hosni Mubarak’s governing National Democratic Party....
All the right connections!
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Also see: For Mass. father, a heartbreaking reunion in Egypt
