CAIRO - Egypt's president, who had surgery a week ago, is returning steadily to health, the head of the medical team treating him in Germany said in a media statement on Saturday. Hosni Mubarak, 81, had his gall bladder removed in the surgery last Saturday, the official Middle East News Agency said, and was transferred from the intensive care unit on Wednesday. Heidelberg University Hospital, where he is being treated, said on Thursday the tissue removed during the operation was benign. "President Mubarak's recovery from the surgical intervention conducted at our hospital is progressing normally," Dr. Markus Buechler of Heidelberg University Hospital said in the statement, issued via the Egyptian government. "I met him this morning in his room for our regular daily medical checks and follow-up. He invited me for a coffee and was in his usual witty mood," Buechler said in the statement, adding that Mubarak's physical mobility is improving. The statement did not say when Mubarak would be discharged. As on other occasions when he has had medical treatment, the latest incident has sparked rumours about his condition.
