According to US and other Western intelligence agencies, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is terminally ill, reported The Washington Times today. Earlier, some Western intelligence agencies had predicted that Mubarak is suffering from terminal cancer in his stomach and pancreas. Mubarak was reportedly treated in a hospital in France earlier this month. His gallbladder was operated on in Germany in March.
Talking to The Washington Times, a Central European intelligence officer told that Mubarak will probably die within a year. The presidential elections in Egypt is scheduled to take place in September 2011. "When I was in Cairo in May, it was interesting. People were mellow about the prospect of him being ill. Everyone understood the end was near; the estimates were 12 to 18 months," Steven Cook, an Egyptian-affairs specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, said to The Washington Times.
"We have access to, for lack of a better word, his court. We know he is dying, but we don't know when he will die. You can be dying for a long time, by the way. Look at [former Cuban President Fidel] Castro," said a senior US intelligence officer. Sources added that the officials National Intelligence Council and the US Central Command are discussing the possible situations and are looking for ways of power transitions after Mubarak's death.
However, State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley stressed that "no one is looking past Mubarak. He is still the president of Egypt, and we rely on him and his government for the critical role they play in security and stability in the Middle East."
