Mubarak illness raises democracy debate

A very public fit of presidential coughing and sneezing has energised debate among the Egyptian elite over democratisation and how power is wielded in the most populous Arab country, reform advocates said today.

State television cameras caught President Hosni Mubarak, 75, suffering what were said to be the effects of a bad flu before he interrupted a nationally broadcast speech last week opening a new session of parliament. Mubarak resumed his speech after about 30 minutes – but not before some Egyptians began to contemplate political life without him.