Support for Omar Suleiman 'embarassed the Mubarak Regime'..."

Omar Suleiman 'besieging' Gamal Mubarak?

AP:

"Posters supporting Egypt's intelligence chief as a candidate in next year's presidential election were removed from Cairo's streets hours after they appeared, while an independent newspaper was ordered to pull reports of the campaign from its pages, officials said Friday.

The swift reaction against the posters, which bore an image of Lt. Gen. Omar Suleiman in a dark business suit and sunglasses and waving his right hand, appeared to indicate that the campaign backing the enigmatic spy chief had embarrassed President Hosni Mubarak's regime...

The activists insist on anonymity, making it impossible to determine who or how popular they are..... Earlier this month, posters sprung up around Egypt supporting Gamal as a candidate for presidency.

In an indication of just how delicate the issue of who will succeed the elder Mubarak is, an official at the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm daily the paper was ordered to destroy 30,000 copies of the daily that carried reports of the Suleiman poster campaign. It was an unusual request for Egypt's largely vibrant press.The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the printing house of a state-owned newspaper refused to print another batch of Al-Masry Al-Youm until news of the campaign was pulled from the front page....

Suleiman, 74, has been Egypt's intelligence chief for nearly two decades. He is in charge of Egypt's most pressing foreign policy issues, such as relations with Israel, the United States and neighboring Sudan. He rarely speaks to the media and, like most of those with intelligence or military backgrounds, is viewed positively by many Egyptians who look to him as a candidate that would keep Egypt's top job within the widely respected military..."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 9:21 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian