CAIRO, Egypt (AP):Egyptian prosecutors yesterday questioned the editor of a prominent independent newspaper about his paper's recent reports on the health of the country's 79-year-old leader, President Hosni Mubarak, a judiciary official said.
Al Dustour's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Essa, was accused of insulting the president, spreading rumours and causing public disturbance.
"We want to stress the need for an utmost transparency by the government in dealing with the president's health or any other rumours," Essa told reporters before entering the prosecutor's office building.
Gamal Fahmi, a member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate who accompanied Essa during the questioning, told reporters that the government was responsible for the spread of the rumours by keeping silent for more than a week without comment.
"The government is not accustomed to using transparency with such news and left the rumours without comment," he said.
Over the past two weeks, several opposition and independent newspapers including Al Dustour have published stories speculating about Mubarak's health.
The government launched a media campaign a week ago to dispel speculation that the president's health is poor that included publishing photos of him touring an industrial zone last week in state-owned papers. First lady Suzanne Mubarak also gave a rare television appearance earlier this week, saying her husband is healthy, and she believes journalists who published reports contending he was ailing deserve to be punished.
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for more than a quarter century, is known to have some knee, ear and back problems, but he has appeared generally healthy in recent public appearances.
No successor
Mubarak has no designated successor. But Egyptians worry over speculation that his son Gamal's quick rise through the ruling party could lead to hereditary succession.
The judiciary official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media, said Essa told prosecutors he respected Mubarak and denied he was the source of the rumours.
Essa presented two other newspapers that published stories about Mubarak's health before his paper did, the official said.
On Monday, the government-controlled Press Supreme Council, which issues licences to newspapers, said it had formed two commissions of media experts and legal consultants to evaluate press coverage of Mubarak's health and decide what legal measures should be taken.
Al Dustour was closed seven for years by the government, beginning in the late 1990s, after it published a statement by an Islamist group that threatened Coptic Christian businessmen in Egypt. After Wednesday's questioning, Essa was allowed to remain free pending the prosecutors' decision whether to try him or drop the charges.
