GAMAL MUBARAK
Some think father Hosni will hand power over to his No. 2 son
In Cairo last week, all of Egypt seemed to be talking about him: Gamal Mubarak, the second son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The younger Mr. Mubarak was in Washington to meet with congressmen and various think tanks and had been the guest for a half-hour interview on CNN. The Chairman of Egypt's ruling party's policy committee, Mr. Mubarak acquitted himself fairly well, but that wasn't what captured Egyptians' attention.
What drew the front-page articles and gossip around town was that CNN chose to run throughout the entire interview an identifying line at the bottom of the screen that read: "Gamal Mubarak, expected to be next Egyptian president."
It's generally a no-no in Egypt to be displayed this way, as a successor to the aging leader. Just ask Amr Moussa.
A decade ago, the handsome and popular Egyptian foreign minister had been portrayed in several magazine articles as a good bet to succeed Mr. Mubarak, then only 70. But faster than you could say "Who, me?" it was off to the Eastern Front, the Arab League, for Mr. Moussa, where he continues to operate in relative obscurity.
To hear Taher Helmy tell it, Gamal Mubarak had nothing to do with how he was portrayed on U.S. television. "It was CNN's words, not Gamal's, that were used to describe him," Mr. Helmy said. "Gamal has not declared [his intention to seek the office]in any way, shape or form."
Mr. Helmy is the senior partner in Cairo's most prestigious law firm, and a big champion of Gamal Mubarak. He's also the man who drafted many of the laws that ushered in Egypt's economic reforms and brought about rising economic fortunes, even if most of them still are largely enjoyed only by the upper classes.
What people saw in that interview, Mr. Helmy said in his stylish office overlooking the Nile, "was someone who was extremely familiar with the issues, especially in foreign affairs."
"It also showed the kind of moderate views that Egypt holds," he said. "That should be comforting to many people."
"The world needs the leader of the region, which is Egypt, to have a general consensus toward moderation, stability and peace," Mr. Helmy explained. "It's good to hear that Gamal has these moderate, liberal views."
Born in 1963, Mr. Mubarak, a dapper, sports car aficionado who married two years ago, has long sought to carve out a public-policy niche for himself. A business graduate of the American University in Cairo, he worked six years in London as an investment banker for Bank of America. By most accounts it was a lacklustre career.
But upon his return in the mid 1990s, he was made a senior official in Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party. By 2002, at the age of 39, he was appointed general secretary of the party's policy committee, charged with responsibility for reform. It was the third most powerful post in a party of aged bosses used to handing out patronage, and Mr. Mubarak rode a wave of economic reform.
"Every one of the policies that have been implemented in the past five years emanated from the policies council that he heads," said Mr. Helmy. In fact, so did many of the ministers in the current cabinet.
"There's no question, he played a pivotal role in reforming the economy," said Mr. Helmy.
"If President Mubarak decides not to run for another term, Gamal would certainly be a good choice to succeed him."
Foreign diplomats in Cairo tend to agree. "There's no one who can challenge him," said one experienced diplomat. "Gamal's got the party and the business class behind him."
To many Egyptians, the idea of father handing power to son, as took place in Syria in 2000, is repulsive.
"Egypt had a royal family; we don't want to return to that," said Hisham Kassem, founding editor of the independent Almasry Alyoum, Egypt's second largest newspaper.
"You hear that concern," said Mr. Helmy. "But there is a democratic process called elections in this country," he said. "At the end of the day - if Gamal declares - he'll be judged like any other candidate."
"Puh-leaze," said an Egyptian businessman. "There's only been one presidential election [in 2005]when Mr. Mubarak faced an opponent, and he got thrown in jail soon after it was over."
In fact, Ayman Nour, the liberal opponent in 2005, was jailed even before the election; then released, under pressure from the United States, and allowed to run. He was subsequently imprisoned for allegedly forging his nomination papers, a charge most Western nations believe was trumped up.
Fahmy Howeidy, a prominent Egyptian columnist, doesn't think Gamal Mubarak's candidacy will be tested at all.
"I don't think his father really wants him to be president," Mr. Howeidy said. "I think it's Gamal's mother who is pushing for him.
"He's not done enough to be president," he added. "The army isn't likely to support him, not unless his father twists a lot of arms."
But wouldn't the support of the business community help him?
"Not at all," said the businessman. "Believe me, Egyptians hate businessmen; they're the stock villains in every popular film.
"No," he said, "it's the army that will call the shots.
"People like Ahmed Ezz [Egypt's steel baron and a member of Gamal Mubarak's policies council]could lose their factories tomorrow if the army decided to take them away."
Since 1952, when a group of army officers overthrew the monarchy, Egypt has been governed by a series of four military officers. The senior Mr. Mubarak was head of the air force before becoming Anwar Sadat's vice-president and eventual successor.
One former Egyptian official recalled that in 2004 the President fainted while delivering a speech in parliament before millions of TV viewers. "It was the Defence Minister [Mohamed Tantawi]who took charge immediately, until Mubarak returned," he said.
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Business graduate
Gamal Mubarak
Year of birth
1963
Schooling
Saint Georges College for early education; graduated from the American University in Cairo with a masters degree in business.
Personality
Acquaintances say that his shyness makes him appear reserved, but those close to him call him funny and relaxed in private.
Quote
"Gamal has never taken a bus, never stopped at a red light, never met anyone who wasn't cleared by security services," says Ibrahim Eissa, editor of Cairo's al-Dustor newspaper.
Personal life
In 2007, he married Khadija Gamal, a graduate of the American University in Cairo, daughter of a wealthy business tycoon, and 20 years her husband's junior. The couple are called Jimmy and Didja by friends.
Sources: Washington Post,
Arabist.net, El-Ahram
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OMAR SULEIMAN
Mubarak's most trusted aide, known as 'the sphinx,' also touted as presidential contender
If it's not to be Gamal Mubarak succeeding his father, then who is it likely to be?
Omar Suleiman, chief of Egyptian intelligence, is the man most often pointed to, and he also was in the spotlight last week.
He's the tall, slim man in tailored blue suits often seen shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators as they try to negotiate agreements.
And he's President Mubarak's most trusted aide.
In June, 1995, it was General Suleiman, who insisted, over the objections of the foreign minister, that President Mubarak's armoured limousine be flown to Ethiopia for Mr. Mubarak to use while on an official visit there. Riding into Addis Ababa from the airport that day, Mr. Mubarak, with Gen. Suleiman beside him, came under fire from Egyptian assassins. The group's bullets bounced off the car and Mr. Mubarak's life was saved.
Returning to Egypt, the two men resolved to deal effectively with the threat posed by the Islamist militants in the Gamaa al-Islamiya group and in Islamic Jihad. Under Gen. Suleiman's direction, the country cracked down hard.
Five years later, the normally secretive head of intelligence made his first public appearance at the side of Mr. Mubarak as the two men attended the funeral of Syrian leader Hafez Assad and the installation of Mr. Assad's son, Bashar. It was a clear message, observers say, of just whom Mr. Mubarak values most.
Gen. Suleiman was born in 1936 in Qena, in Upper Egypt, a poor area and hotbed of Islamic activism. But there's not a lot known about the imposing, if taciturn, man. He is said to have excelled in school, entered the military academy in Cairo at 19, and was sent to Moscow for further training upon graduation. In 1991, he was made head of military intelligence and, in 1993, overall head of intelligence.
"They speak of him as 'the sphinx,' " said Emad Gad, head of Israel studies at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "He's completely inscrutable. He makes no speeches; gives no interviews."
A Palestinian negotiator who has met him several times describes him as "rather like Paul Martin when he was [Canada's]finance minister."
"He's the type of person who gets the job done. He has a lot of presence and command. He keeps his promises, but he can also play both sides."
The Egyptian columnist Fahmy Howeidy says his greatest strength is that he is not Hosni Mubarak's son and he's not supported by the business community.
"He's also not corrupt," said Mr. Howeidy.
"Unlike Gamal," says Hisham Kassem, a newspaper publisher, "Suleiman has great credibility with the United States, with Europe, the Arab world, and with Israel. He has experience in all the right areas."
"The powers that be hate the Muslim Brotherhood," he said. "And Omar Suleiman is their hero."
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Devout Muslim
Omar Suleiman
Year of birth
1935
EducatioN
Graduated from Egypt's prestigious Military Academy, and received additional military training in the former Soviet Union at Moscow's Frunze Military Academy.
Personality
He trusts hardly anyone and relies on a tiny circle of loyalists.
Quote
"We met some years ago with CIA representatives in the lobby of a hotel," recalled an Israeli intelligence man, "and suddenly Omar made a 'v' figure with his fingers. One of his aides surfaced out of the blue and placed a cigar between his fingers."
Personal life
He is a devout Muslim who often halts discussions with Israeli colleagues in order to pray.
Sources: Atlantic, Telegraph