Mubarak Won’t Take Medical Leave in Germany, Suleiman Says

(See {EXTRA } for more on the unrest in Egypt.)

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The Egyptian authorities said President Hosni Mubarak won’t seek medical treatment in Germany, as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said no offer had been made to take in Mubarak as a way to meet protestors’ demands.

Vice President Omar Suleiman was cited by the semi-official Al-Ahram newspaper as saying that Mubarak “is in good health and does not need treatment in Germany.” The newspaper quoted Suleiman as saying that he “thanks” Merkel, though speculation about a possible medical leave is a “flagrant” interference in Egypt’s internal affairs, according to a report today.

The German government, which has said there’s been no request from Mubarak’s regime about a possible stay, denied that any such offer had been extended to the 82-year-old ruler. Merkel has made no public statements on the matter.

“Not only has there not been any sort of official or unofficial request by the Egyptian government, there was also in no way any official or unofficial offer,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters today in Berlin.

Mubarak has received medical treatment in Germany in the past. The Egyptian leader had his gallbladder and an intestinal polyp removed by doctors at Heidelberg University Hospital in southern Germany during a three-week stay in March 2010. In June 2004, he underwent surgery in Munich for a slipped disc.

The New York Times, citing officials in President Barack Obama’s administration, reported this week that one of the options being considered to ease Mubarak from power was an extended medical leave of absence to Germany.

Mubarak’s pledge last week to step down in September failed to placate the protesters, who say he must go immediately. Tens of thousands of Egyptians filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday in what may have been the largest demonstration in almost two weeks of protests that have left some 300 dead.

--With assistance from Tony Czuczka in Berlin. Editors: Alan Crawford, James Hertling

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdo[email protected]; Mariam Fam in Cairo at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]