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CAIRO : Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had a "successful" operation in Germany to remove his gall bladder on Saturday, after handing over executive power to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif while convalescing, state media reported.
Mubarak, 81, who was on a visit to Germany on Thursday to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel when he suffered gall bladder pains, underwent a "successful operation," said a presenter on state television.
"He is in intensive care after waking up and talking to members of his family and doctors," she said, adding that doctors at the Heidelberg University Hospital would later give a medical briefing.
The veteran president, who was accompanied by wife Suzanne and other family members, delegated executive powers to Nazif until he returns to Cairo, state media announced early on Saturday ahead of the operation.
The official news agency MENA said Mubarak, who has been president for almost three decades, underwent tests on Friday that confirmed "chronic infections in the gall bladder".
Gall bladder removal is a benign operation but the last-minute announcement of the surgery raised questions.
"Yesterday, they announced he would undergo an examination. Then they announced he would undergo a surgery. They should have announced this earlier," said political analyst Imad Gad.
The way the government handled the treatment fuelled "speculation that there are other reasons for the surgery," Gad told AFP.
The most common treatment, laparascopic cholecystectomy, is performed under anaesthesia and involves the insertion of a tiny camera through several tiny incisions in the torso.
This method allows a faster recovery, and the patient can leave hospital in 48 to 72 hours.
A study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in August 2005 found that surgery increases the risk of developing colon cancer.
Mubarak's health is usually a taboo subject in the country he has ruled since 1981, fuelling regular rumours.
In 2007, speculation snowballed to the extent that the president was forced to make an unscheduled public appearance to put the rumours to rest.
A year later, Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dustur, was sentenced to two months in prison for writing about Mubarak's health. He was later granted a presidential pardon.
But the government says it has been transparent on the president's ailment and surgery, although it had not given any indication before he left for Germany that he would undergo a check-up and an operation.
Prime Minister Nazif's spokesman Magdi Radi said the decision to undergo surgery was taken only on Friday after what he said was a "follow-up" with German doctors.
"Yesterday they decided he needs an operation. If he had known there would be a surgery a month ago, he would have gone a month ago," Radi told AFP.
This is not the first time Mubarak has handed over the reins of government. In 2004, he delegated executive powers to then prime minister Atef Ebeid when he was treated in Germany for a slipped disc.
Mubarak had been active in the months before his latest visit to Germany, giving speeches and touring provinces, although last year he cancelled a scheduled trip to Washington and limited public appearances after the death of his 12-year-old grandson.
His fifth six-year term as president ends in 2011 and press reports in Egypt have suggested that his son Gamal is likely to succeed him. But neither man has made any clear statement on a succession.
On Thursday, Mubarak said that Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency who has called for democratic reform in Egypt, could run for the presidency provided he respected the constitution.
ElBaradei has said he would run if the constitution, which places obstacles in the way of presidential candidates, was amended. He was in Egypt last month and formed an opposition group. - AFP/ms
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