MUBARAK DISCUSSES BACK SURGERY, GAMAL AS

S E C R E T CAIRO 000057 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, AND INR/B NSC FOR PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2018 TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL EG SUBJECT: MUBARAK DISCUSSES BACK SURGERY, GAMAL AS PERFECTIONIST Classified By: ECPO Minister-Counselor William R. Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) During his January 6 meeting with the Ambassador and visiting Congressman Steven Israel (D-NY),President Mubarak described his June 2004 back surgery in Germany to repair a slipped disc (he stressed it was not a herniated disc). Mubarak said that the opening made in his back was "very small," that he was in surgery for one-and-a-half hours, and that after the operation, he had felt no pain. "The next day, I was able to walk." He explained that during the time he was sedated, the Prime Minister (Atef Obeid) was "in charge." He added that when in Cairo, he undertakes a daily exercise regime in the afternoons, but when he goes to Sharm, "I just relax -- no exercise." ¶2. (S/NF) Throughout the meeting, Mubarak was expansive and in fine humor. He rose easily from his seat several times to point out activity on the golf course and to be photographed with his visitors. He engaged the visitors extensively on the topic of food, stressing that his favorite fare is Egyptian popular breakfast dishes, such as tamiya (felafel) and foul (beans). He ordered up a huge tray of freshly made tamiya sandwiches for lunch, and lustily consumed several. ¶3. (S/NF) Mubarak also offered insights into the character of his younger son, Gamal, whom he described as a perfectionist from childhood. "As a schoolboy, if I gave him a notebook with one line that was not straight, he would throw a fit and demand a new one," Mubarak laughed. Furthermore, Gamal is "idealistic" and "punctual." Mubarak added, "If he (Gamal) says, 'meet me for lunch at 2:00,' he means 2:00. Set your watch by it." ¶4. (S/NF) During the two-and-a-half hour long meeting at his golf course retreat in Sharm El-Sheikh, mostly outdoors on a breezy veranda, Mubarak on several occasions seemed to have more than his usual difficulty in hearing. Nonetheless, he initiated several phone calls. He also displayed one apparent lapse in memory in telling Congressman Israel that Gamal is forty-one years old; he is in fact forty-four (born December 27, 1963, according to leadership profile 20320807). Ricciardone