“His will power and resolve eased his complete recovery in Germany,” reads one of Al-Ahram’s headlines. “Your country has brightened up, oh President,” boasts Al-Akhbar. “Mubarak returns safely to the nation’s embrace,” says Al-Gomhorriya. All of the state papers lead with news of President Mubarak’s return to Egypt yesterday at 6 PM after three weeks at a German hospital recovering from gallbladder surgery.
All three state papers report that the president was greeted by Egypt’s leading figures, including Pope Shenouda III and People’s Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour. Sorour is quoted in Al-Gomhorriya as saying: “The father has returned to his children.”
All newspapers report on a press conference held by President Mubarak’s chief doctor, Markus Beuchler, in Germany. The doctor is quoted as saying that the president has completely recovered and has returned to his normal daily activity. State-owned papers emphasize Beuchler’s mention of the “President’s humanitarianism.”
The editors-in-chief of Al-Ahram and Al-Akbhar boast poetic front page columns about Mubarak’s return. Al-Akhbar quotes the voice of the Egyptian street as saying: “We pray God will preserve his health.”
Al-Akhbar’s dedication to Mubarak’s return goes beyond the front page. Much of today’s edition is filled with quotes from "thinkers, intellectuals, artists, politicians” on their happiness about the President’s return, praying for his continued health so he can "lead the nation on its path of reform, progress and development."
Al-Wafd clebrates someone’s arrival, but not the president’s. Mahmoud Abaza, the head of the Wafd Party arrived in El-Matareya.
Al-Wafd reports that more than 1500 workers at Al-Ezz Al-Dakhila Company for Steel and Metals in Alexandria are continuing their sit-in for a third day. The workers, who are conducting their sit-in inside the factory, are demanding increased wages while threatening to extend the strike if their demands are not met.
Al-Shorouq, also highlighting Mubarak’s return, features an adjacent interview with a professor of political science from Texas University, leading with the title: Gamal Mubarak has received blessings from two US presidents.
The papers quotes John Bradley, author of the controversial book Inside Egypt, as saying that the US administration approves of a transfer of power in Egypt from the president to his son, even though this contradicts American values.
Bradley goes on to say that Gamal Mubarak came to the White House in 2006 and met with then-Vice President Dick Cheney and other key American figures, basically receiving their approval. Bradley also comments on ElBaradei, saying he doesn’t believe the former IAEA head will be one of the candidates for the presidency. “I don’t think he can gather many Egyptians outside the boundaries of Facebook,” Al-Wafd quotes the author as saying.
Al-Shorouq also reports on a boat that caught fire in the Nile yesterday morning in the area near Maadi. The boat, which was parked across from the military hospital, was being renovated when it caught fire, costing some LE50 million in damages to its owner, Magdy Hanin.
Around 12 fire trucks and five ambulances arrived on the scene. There were few injuries involving workers finishing up the overhaul. The report quotes a source saying this is the third of Hanin’s boats to catch fire, vaguely suggesting malicious motives. The owner, however, says the fire was caused by an accident during renovations.
Egypt’s newspapers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run
Rose el-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party’s Policies Secretariat
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouq:Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Sawt el-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
