CAIRO: Only one week since the Egyptian government issued photos and a video showing President Hosni Mubarak in what was apparently post-operation recovery mode, the Egyptian blogosphere and a few commentators on Twitter have begun demanding a new statement from the government on the president's health. One Twitter user wrote that the govenment should issue another statement or video of the president in order to allay fears of the president's health. According to the German doctors, Mubarak is recovery in a normal manner after a surgery of this kind. The president had portions of his gall bladder removed after doctors said they discovered a malignant tumor. A former foreign ministry official told Bikya Masr that “this seems to be about as normal as it gets when it comes to a surgery of this kind. I don't think there is any reason for the panic and rumors, but of course, people are looking for something and who really knows what is going on?” On March 13, the Egyptian twittersphere erupted over rumors that President Hosni Mubarak has passed away in Germany. The frantic re-tweeting and attempts to get further information were in full swing Saturday afternoon after reports that Russian television ran a story saying the Egyptian president was dead. “I wonder if Mubarak really has died, maybe they want to delay [the] announcement till we’re over Tantawy’s death? Lest Tantawy takes spotlight?†wrote one Twitterer concerning the possible death of the president. Rumors had been ongoing for the days after local state-run media reported that the aging president had had tissue removed in surgery, but that he did not have cancer. They said he had been taken out of the intensive care unit in a German hospital and was in stable condition. It is unclear at this point what the exact situation is in Germany. “What’s interesting, though, is that we’ve been hearing the same bit of news over Mubarak for 3 days now. Weird, isn’t it?†asked another Twitter user at the time.
