Mubarak, force for stability in Egypt
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-30 07:22

Mubarak, 77, has stayed close to the United States and won its respect for efforts to end Israeli-Palestinian violence.

But, with other Arab leaders, he opposed the US-led war in Iraq, which he said would boost radicalism.

Mubarak has warned against pressing too hard for political change. "Nobody imagines that we can press a button and freedoms will arrive. Otherwise it would lead the country to chaos, and that would be a danger to people," he said in March 2004.

He said on several recent occasions that the presidency is a tough job that he does not always relish.

"Governing Egypt is not a picnic, not something easy," he declared in January. "You have limited resources, high population growth and the requirements of the people."

Mubarak appointed a reform-minded cabinet in July 2004, which has slashed customs duties, announced tax cuts and fully floated the currency. The reforms have boosted investor confidence and pushed the stock market to record highs.

But economists say the cabinet has been slow to implement key spending reforms such as cutting the huge subsidy and public wage bill for fear of a social backlash.

Many Egyptians take fright at any sign of Mubarak ailing, as in June 2004 when he had an operation in Germany for a slipped disc or when he collapsed in parliament in November 2003.

Mubarak narrowly escaped death when soldiers linked to a radical Islamist group shot Sadat. He has been the target of several assassination attempts since, including a spectacular attack on his motorcade in Addis Ababa in 1995.

Mubarak has two sons.His wife, Suzanne, was British.

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