Egyptian media denies speculation about Mubarak's health

Photos of President Hosni Mubarak touring a remote industrial zone near his summer beach home were published today in Egypt’s main state-owned newspapers, as government media sought to dispel speculation about his health.

Images of the president, who is 79, accompanied by his ministers as he toured textile factories in the northern industrial zone of Borg el-Arab yesterday, also ran on Egyptian television.

The highly-publicised visit to the zone near the Mediterranean coast came the same day the state-owned weekly magazine al-Massawer published a cover story discounting the widespread health speculation across Egypt in recent days.

“Political rumours are being used as a weapon to incite people’s worries,” wrote the magazine’s editor Abdel Qader Shouheib.

Aly Eldin Helal, a spokesman for Mubarak’s ruling party, blamed the independent and opposition press for the speculation.

Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for more than 25 years, is known to have some knee, ear and back problems but has appeared generally healthy in public appearances this year.

He has no designated successor, but his son Gamal’s swift rise through the ruling party has fed speculation that the way is being paved for a hereditary succession, something that worries Egyptians.

Mubarak is scheduled to meet Jordanian King Abdallah and special Middle East envoy Tony Blair in Egypt on Tuesday.