DUBAI: First Lady Suzan Mubarak dismissed rumors of her husband s ill health in a television interview broadcast by the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya news channel on Sunday.
“His health is excellent and he is as active as ever. I m bemused as to who would benefit from spreading these rumors that make the public confused, Suzanne Mubarak said, calling for those responsible to be punished.
President Mubarak told the state-owned Al Ahram daily on Aug. 31 that rumors of his ill health were politically motivated and produced by illegitimate movements, an allusion to the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group in the country.
An Egyptian official directly accused the Muslim Brotherhood in comments to the independent daily Al Masry Al Youm on Sunday.
The Muslim Brotherhood are playing a part in these rumors… this has been proven during the questioning of certain Brotherhood leaders, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The government has repeatedly accused the group of wanting to destabilize the state, and has rounded up dozens of its members, including senior leaders, in recent weeks.
Forty members of the group are currently on trial in a military court accused of money-laundering and financing a banned organization. Human rights groups have repeatedly called on Egypt to stop using military courts to try civilians.
Recent rumors about Mubarak s health have included his hospitalization, travel abroad for medical treatment and even death, prompting him to make an unannounced visit to an industrial zone near his summer home on the Mediterranean coast in a bid to dispel the speculation.
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for more than a quarter of a century, underwent surgery for a slipped disc in 2004 and suffered a minor health scare while delivering a televised speech the year before.
