A Claim Mubarak Plans to Stay On: From a Dubious Source

For those who read Arabic, here's a story that has appeared in the independent Egyptian daily Al-Fagr by its Editor, ‘Adel Hammouda. It claims that during a Ramadan meeting with senior party officials, Husni Mubarak announced that he would remain in office "until his last breath" and went on to insist that the region's situation requires rule by the military. None of that would seem to be good news for Gamal Mubarak's prospects, obviously.

But let me caution readers to treat this source with a lot of skepticism. ‘Adel Hammouda has been around a long time — he's been writing since the Nasser era at least — and has spent a lot of that time writing tabloid-style scandal stories, political gossip, and the like. He has edited mainstream magazines like Roz al-Youssef in the past, but Al-Fagr seems to be more in the category of a tabloid scandal-sheet. He has periodically infuriated al-Azhar on religious issues and the government has charged him in the past with disrespect for the Presidency.

I would say this story does not seem to mesh very well with everything else we have been seeing and hearing from official Egyptian sources in recent years. I might venture to suggest it could be a plant, perhaps by someone in the millitary or security services, aimed at undermining Gamal. (There have been rumors that Hammouda had ties to the intelligence apparatus in the Nasser era, when many journalists certainly did, and he's written a lot about Islamists.) I call the story to your attention not because I believe it to be true but because its appearance probably relates to actual debates going on behind the scenes. Or it may be complete fabrication.