<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ A declining Mubarak, with son in tow, spends the day at White House

A declining Mubarak, with son in tow, spends the day at White House

Wednesday, August 19, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

WASHINGTON Ñ Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appears to be on his last legs.

The 82-year-old Mubarak, on his first visit to the United States since 2004, struggled through his meetings in Washington yesterday.

On Aug. 18, Mubarak met President Barack Obama for a review of bilateral relations and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. An official said Obama urged Mubarak to recruit Arab support for a peace agreement with Israel that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

During his visit, however, Mubarak appeared to concentrate on promoting his son and heir-apparent, Gamal, an economist and regarded as the No. 2 figure in Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party. In at least one private meeting, Mubarak said Gamal, who has been accompanying his father in Washington, would be vital in maintaining U.S.-Egyptian relations. Egypt, which receives about $1.3 billion annually, has been the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel.

"Pushing Gamal is his real priority because this is clearly his [the elder Mubarak's] last visit to the United States," the official said.

During his two-day visit, Mubarak limited his meetings in Washington largely to Obama and his top aides. On Aug. 18, Mubarak and Gamal spent most of the day at the White House, where they also met Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor James Jones. Later, former President Bill Clinton arrived at the White House for a separate meeting with Mubarak.

A participant in one meeting said Mubarak appeared to be in physical pain and unable to understand much of what was being said to him. "He looks like a zombie," the participant said.

"We are moving in the right direction," Mubarak said meeting the president. "The Arab states are ready to help if the Israelis and the Palestinians returned to peace talks."

Over the last few weeks, the administration has approved a series of Egyptian weapons requests and deliveries, including that of military helicopters and anti-ship missiles. The White House was also expected to approve an Egyptian request for the advanced F-16 Block 52+ multi-role fighter later in 2009.

"Relations between us and the United States are very good relations and strategic relations," Mubarak said. "And despite some of the hoops that we had with previous administrations, this did not change the nature of our bilateral relations."

Before meeting Obama, Mubarak met a delegation of some 20 U.S. Jewish leaders in a session described as friendly. During Mubarak's stay, the Egyptian embassy gathered visiting students and expatriates to chant slogans in support of the president outside his Washington hotel.

The Egyptian president did not schedule any sessions with leaders of Congress. Congress, which in 2007 voted to reduce U.S. military aid to Cairo by $100 million, has been critical of Egypt's human rights record and strategic alliance with Sudan.

Mubarak, in power since 1981, was said to have undergone a serious decline in health over the last year. In 2009, he underwent a battery of medical tests in Paris that identified heart illness, blood ailments and a serious back problem.

Moreover, the president was said to have sunk into a depression when his 12-year-old grandson died suddenly in May 2009. Mohammed Ala Mubarak was said to have been the president's favorite.

"The doctors told him to take a long vacation abroad, but he felt he could not be outside Egypt for so long," a Western diplomatic source said.

For his part, Mubarak reassured the Obama administration that he would remain in office in the years to come. He did not rule out running for another term of office in 2011.

"I have entered into the elections based on a platform that included reforms," Mubarak said. "And therefore we have started to implement some of it, and we still have two years to implement it."

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