debkafile: Mubarak’s “state visit to Paris” masks serious surgery

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak arrived in Paris Tuesday, July 21, for talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and prime minister Francois Fillon, billed officially as focusing on the Middle East and the outcome of the July 8 G8 summit. However, those talks did not yield the usual joint statements and, accordingly to debkafile‘s sources, were staged as a front for his admittance to a Paris hospital for tests and a surgical procedure later this week.
The Egyptian media have been instructed to report after the event that their president is undergoing surgery for an chronic back ailment, but the true nature of his ill health appears to be more serious and is strenuously blacked out by his aides.
It is not clear how long he will have to stay in hospital.
Medical sources say that any kind of surgery at the age of 81 could be dangerous and difficult.
In June 2004, Mubarak underwent a procedure for a slipped disc at the Munich Orthopedic Center, after which he appeared in his pajamas to thank his people for the interest they took in his health and for refusing to manage without him. This time, his recovery may to take longer.

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