FILE: MUBARAK PROFILE - Prison authorities approve request to let Hosni Mubarak's eldest son stay close to him in a prison hospital in response to the former president's deteriorating health

Record ID: 838477

  • Title: FILE: MUBARAK PROFILE - Prison authorities approve request to let Hosni Mubarak's eldest son stay close to him in a prison hospital in response to the former president's deteriorating health
  • Date: 12th June 2012
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (FILE - MARCH 30, 1991) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR ARAB LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS FLAGS OF MEMBER COUNTRIES OUTSIDE ARAB LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE - JUNE 26, 1995) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) CAR DAMAGED IN ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE MUBARAK
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Germany, Egypt, Usa, Ethiopia
  • City:
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Health,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVADQRHK680C7A80MQNPUX7KOG9C
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Rumours about Hosni Mubarak's health swirled after Egypt's state news agency reported on Monday (June 11) that his eldest son would be moved closer to him in a prison hospital in response to the former president's deteriorating health.
    Mubarak had requested his son Alaa be moved close to him after the authorities earlier agreed to a similar request by the 84-year-old to have his youngest son Gamal brought next to him, the agency reported.
    Citing a security source in the Interior Ministry, the report said the latest decision was in response to "a deterioration in his health".
    Mubarak was jailed for life on June 2 for failing to prevent the killing of protesters who rose up against him, but the acquittal of senior police officers for lack of evidence angered many Egyptians who believe the ex-president may win an appeal.
    Since Mubarak was moved to Tora prison hospital from a plush military hospital where he was held during the 10-month trial, speculation has been rife about his state of health. Such rumours also frequently recurred as he aged in office.
    Security sources said last week that Mubarak was given artificial respiration five times in one day and doctors recommended he be moved to a military hospital or back to the medical facility he was in prior to his conviction.
    He has also reportedly slipped in and out of a coma at times, although prison sources said on Monday he was awake and with his sons.
    Gamal, once seen as being groomed for the presidency, and Alaa, are also being held in Tora prison pending a trial over a case of alleged stock market manipulation. Corruption charges they had faced with their father in his trial were quashed.
    Mubarak's wife Suzanne and the wives of his two sons also visited the ex-president on Sunday (June 10), the state news agency reported, quashing rumours that had briefly swirled suggesting the former president had died.
    During almost 30 years at Egypt's helm, Mubarak became a force for stability and led Egypt back into the centre of Middle East politics.
    Thrust into office by the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat, the burly former air force commander and vice president proved a far more durable leader than was initially predicted.
    Mubarak pledged to continue implementing Sadat's policies, including the peace process with Israel which had prompted much of the Arab world to shun Egypt.
    He presided over the return to Egypt of large parts of the Sinai Peninsula which had been occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War.
    Widely respected for his calming influence in a turbulent Middle East, Mubarak won U.S. appreciation for his attempts to negotiate an elusive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
    Mubarak openly supported Yasser Arafat when a revolt broke out against his leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1983. Arafat acknowledged this support when he visited Mubarak in December 1983 after the PLO's expulsion from Lebanon. The visit marked an important stage in Egypt's rehabilitation as a leading influence on the course of Arab affairs.
    Egypt supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during Iraq's 1980-88 war with Iran but Mubarak helped rally Arab support against Baghdad after Iraq occupied Kuwait in 1990. Egypt contributed troops to the U.S.-led alliance which drove the Iraqis out in 1991.
    By the beginning of the 1990s, after more than a decade as an outcast, Mubarak had succeeded in restoring Egypt's ties with Arab countries and persuaded the influential Arab League to return to its former headquarters in Cairo.
    During his presidency Mubarak has been the target of several assassination attempts, including a spectacular attack on his motorcade in Addis Ababa in 1995. He survived unscathed when gunmen sprayed bullets at his armoured limousine which was taking him to an African summit in the Ethiopian capital.
    More than 1,200 people were killed between 1992 and 1997 as militant groups in Egypt waged a six-year armed campaign for a purist Islamic state. The political violence, led by al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), climaxed in the bloody Luxor massacre of November 1997 when six gunmen killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians.
    Military courts played a crucial role in Mubarak's successful campaign to crush the militants. Tens of thousands were arrested and detained under emergency laws which had remained in force since Sadat's assassination.
    Mubarak continued to act as an unofficial patron of the Middle East peace process, hosting summits between Israeli and Arab leaders, keeping a close watch on their negotiations and maintaining good relations with the United States.
    Following the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004, Mubarak agreed to host his funeral ceremony, enabling Arab leaders who could not travel to the occupied West Bank and Gaza to attend.
    After seven years of domestic peace, political violence returned to Egypt. In July 2005 bombers struck the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing at least 64 and denting Mubarak's image as a guarantor of security and stability.
    In 2005, responding to U.S. pressure to open up the political system, Mubarak proposed constitutional amendments to end the system of referendums on a single, pre-selected candidate in presidential elections. Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election was held in September 2005 and Mubarak won a fifth consecutive six-year term.
    Two months later, the opposition Muslim Brotherhood made strong gains in parliamentary elections despite claims of widespread voting irregularities. Observers and human rights activists alleged Egyptian police detained hundreds of Islamists and prevented people from voting by sealing off polling stations.
    During a parliamentary address in November 2006, Mubarak gave every indication he planned to stand for a sixth term in 2011 and retain the leadership for the remainder of his life.
    "I will continue with you on the path of transition to the future, bearing the responsibility and burdens of it, as long as there is a heart that beats in my chest and I draw breath", he said, eliciting a standing ovation from the assembled members of the two houses of parliament.
    Having reached his ninth decade, speculation increased about who would take over from Mubarak. The rapid rise of his younger son, Gamal, through the ranks of the ruling National Democratic Party, was seen as proof he was being groomed for leadership. But many Egyptians associated the former investment banker with a widening gap between rich and poor, and viewed plans for his succession with suspicion and hostility.
    Public anger over soaring food prices and low wages led to deadly riots in April 2008. Prices for bread and grains jumped 31.9 percent and the government was forced to extend its ration card system to provide more than 70 percent of Egypt's population of 75 million with access to subsidised food.
    In June 2009, Mubarak held his first meetings with the fourth U.S. president to hold office during his leadership. President Barack Obama chose the Egyptian capital for an address aimed at repairing ties with the Muslim world in an effort to win the support of moderate Muslim countries and revive stalled Middle East peace talks.
    In March 2010, concerns about Mubarak's health escalated and the Egyptian stock market tumbled when he failed to reappear after undergoing gallbladder surgery in Germany. After a three-week absence, the 81-year old leader returned to Egypt and spent a fortnight convalescing in the Sharm El-Sheikh resort.
    Elections in November 2010 removed most dissenting voices from a parliament dominated by Mubarak's National Democratic Party. The banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates were tacitly allowed to run as independents, boycotted the second round and demanded an investigation into the election's legitimacy.
    Inspired by the downfall of Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, anti-government demonstrations erupted across Egypt in January 2011, as hundreds of thousands of protesters demanded an end to Mubarak's 30-year rule.
    In a first indication that he was preparing an eventual handover of power, Mubarak responded by appointing his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as Vice-President and announced he would not run again for Egypt's presidency but insisted he would serve out his six-year term working for a smooth transfer of power.
    After 18 days of mass protests against his rule, Mubarak's refusal to change the corrupt and authoritarian system he inherited finally caught up with him. On February 11 the then 82-year-old leader was forced to step down, his removal apparently orchestrated by the military after it lost confidence he could weather the storm.
    Mubarak retreated with his family to the Sharm El-Sheikh resort, having vowed he would not flee Egypt and intended "to die on its soil".
    On April 12, he was admitted to hospital after being questioned by prosecutors. The next day he was ordered to be detained for questioning as part of the investigation into the killing of protesters, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power.
    In July, following rumours that he had died or was in a coma, the official news agency MENA reported that Mubarak was weak and refusing solid food. The health of the now 83-year-old former president became the subject of frequent speculation and the reports were seen by many as a ploy for him to avoid trial.
    On August 3 2011, however, Egyptians watched in disbelief as their former leader was wheeled into a courtroom cage in Cairo to hear charges that could carry the death penalty. Lying on a hospital bed, Mubarak denied he was involved in the killing of protesters who ousted him and other corruption charges. His two sons Alaa and Gamal, both holding copies of the Muslim holy book the Koran, also denied charges.
    Outside the courtroom, crowds gathered to watch the public humiliation of the former president on a large video screen. More than 840 people died during the 18 days of demonstrations.
    On June 2, 2012, Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters.
    It was the first time an ousted Arab leader had faced an ordinary court in person since a wave of uprisings shook the Arab world last year.
    But the verdict prompted thousands to take to the streets of Cairo in protest, as many saw the trial that acquitted top security officials as showing how much of Mubarak's old order was still in place.
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