President Hosni Mubarak, who handed power temporarily to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on Friday, underwent a 'successful' gallbladder surgery in Germany yesterday, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Saturday. Mubarak, 81, who gave a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, delegated power to the Prime Minister in 2004 when he had a disc surgery in Germany. The Egyptian leader, in power for 28 years, showed no signs of frailty at Thursday's news conference. "Mubarak's surgery on his gallbladder was successful. Therefore, it was decided to be removed. He was admitted to the (Heidelberg University Clinic) earlier yesterday," a spokeswoman for the hospital told DPA Saturday. Medical tests had shown that he was suffering from chronic inflammation of the gallbladder, a non-vital organ that aids in the digestive process and stores bile produced in the liver, according to the spokeswoman. The Heidelberg University Clinic often treats prominent patients. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 79, had his gallbladder removed there earlier this year. Mubarak has not said whether he would seek a sixth six-year term in the next presidential election in 2011. Egypt's First Lady Mrs Suzanne Mubarak and their two sons as well as Minister of Health Dr Hatem el-Gabali are with President Mubarak in Germany. "I think the surgery going through is a minor surgery. It seems there is no reason to be specially concerned at this point in time," Gamal Soltan, director of the State-backed Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told Reuters. He said the President had been active recently, pointing to trips around Egypt and meetings abroad, but said rumours were "understandable considering the president's age" and because Mubarak had not designated an heir. Egypt held its first multi-candidate election in 2005, a system not in place when Mubarak took over, from Anwar Sadat who was gunned down by militants in 1981. Mubarak easily won the 2005 vote, which rights groups said was marred by abuses. Officials said it was fair. Mubarak had undergone surgery for a slipped disc at a Munich hospital in 2004, an event that sparked rumours about the succession and sent jitters through Egypt's financial markets. In 2003, he collapsed briefly during a speech to Parliament. Officials said that was caused by a combination of cold medication and fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
