By Stan Goodenough
Sep 18, 2007
For over a quarter of a decade he has ruled Egypt with an iron fist, presenting himself as a democratically-elected leader, but in reality a despot that has worked to build his country into a Middle Eastern power, with generous help from the United States.
The BBC opined Friday that Hosni Mubarak "is perhaps the most important political figure in the Arab world." He has been credited with helping to facilitate Israel-"Palestinian” negotiations when they got bogged down.
A growing collection of reports now suggest, however, that the man has been weakened by ill health and that he could soon be on his way out.
Mubarak has reacted with fury to these "rumors," saying they are fomenting unrest and insecurity; he has had a newspaper editor - Ibrahim Issa, editor of the Egyptian daily Al Dustour - thrown in jail for daring to publish an article questioning the state of his health.
In a newspaper interview, Mubarak said "illegitimate movements" were behind the rumors; a barely-veiled reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful opposition group which is eager to get its hands on the massive pile of advanced US-made and supplied weaponry in the country.
While some news agencies have disputed the reports about Mubarak's health, others are speculating that his son Gamal (who bears the name of the infamous former warmongering president Gamal Abdel-Nasser) is being groomed to replace him.