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| Africa North |
| Mubarak's Son Meets With President Bush |
| 2006-05-16 |
| Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's son and presumed political heir talked briefly last week with President Bush while at the White House for meetings with top officials. Gamal Mubarak, the Egyptian president's youngest son and a favorite in the United States, was granted a meeting Friday with Bush's national security adviser while in Washington on private business, Frederick Jones, a National Security Council spokesman, said Monday. In addition to sitting down with Stephen Hadley at the White House, the younger Mubarak also met with Vice President Dick Cheney, the vice president's office said. Bush saw Mubarak while he spoke with Hadley, dropping by to meet him and "convey his best regards" to his father, Jones said. Egypt is one of the United States' closest friends and the most populous nation in the Arab world. Neither Jones nor Cheney's office would further discuss the substance of the meetings. Gamal Mubarak is spearheading democratic reform within his father's ruling party. But many in Egypt question whether the changes aim to ensure his father's hold on power. President Mubarak allowed the country's first multicandidate presidential elections last year. He easily won re-election, and promised further changes in a country he has ruled unchallenged for more than a quarter century. But parliamentary elections in November and December were marred by violence that killed 14 people, and security forces in many cases barricaded polling sites to prevent opposition supporters from voting. Still, the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and most popular Islamic group, was able to increase its presence in parliament six-fold to 88 seats - making it the country's strongest opposition movement. Since then, the government has put off local elections for two years. Last month, the government renewed emergency laws that it had promised to lift. And in recent weeks, scores of activists have been arrested during demonstrations to support two Egyptian judges facing disciplinary action after they blew the whistle on election fraud. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #2 The Associated Press, evidently... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-05-16 12:27 |
| #1 Gamal Mubarak, the Egyptian president's youngest son and a favorite in the United States He is? With who? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-16 12:03 |