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Egypt TV Shows Mubarak for First Time Since Surgery

16 March 2010 18:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appeared on television today for the first time since undergoing surgery in Germany this month, ending a public absence that fueled concern about his health, APA reports quoting bloomberg.com web-page.

Mubarak, 81, appeared on the state-run Nile News television sitting at a table and talking to his doctors at Heidelberg University Hospital, where he had his gall bladder removed on March 6.

Mubarak is making â€œsatisfactoryâ€ progress and no longer requires daily laboratory checks, an e-mailed statement by the Egyptian information ministerâ€™s office quoted Dr. Markus Buechler at the hospital as saying today.

The Egyptian president has ruled the Arab worldâ€™s most populous country for 28 years, the longest period in power of any leader since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952. Unlike his two predecessors, he hasnâ€™t appointed a vice president and has no designated successor. He has handed power temporarily to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

Egyptâ€™s benchmark stock index advanced today, ending a three-day losing streak, as investor concern about the health of Mubarak following his operation waned. The EGX30 Index gained 1.8 percent to 6,465.65 at the close in Cairo.

Investors concerned about Mubarakâ€™s health had pushed the measure this week to its biggest three-day drop since November.

â€œPresident Mubarak will be under thorough follow-up of the whole medical team for the coming days while completing his recovery and leaving our hospital,â€ the statement quoted Buechler as saying.