By Yasmine Saleh
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in power for almost three decades, has handed power temporarily to his prime minister while he undergoes gallbladder surgery on Saturday in Germany, state television said.
Mubarak, 81, who gave a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, delegated power to the prime minister in 2004 while he had back surgery in Germany.
Mubarak, who showed no signs of frailty at Thursday's news conference, has been in power since 1981 and has not designated a successor, prompting talk about who might take over a country where many in the young population have known no other leader.
Such talk tends to become more acute whenever issues of his wellbeing arise although he has generally enjoyed good health.
"Mubarak is undergoing surgery on his gallbladder because he has been suffering severe inflammation of his gallbladder," television reported. State media said earlier he would undergo gallbladder tests while in Germany.
"He has issued a presidential decree delegating Ahmed Nazif presidential powers until he returns," it said.
State media continued to run similar statements through Saturday morning. Officials in Egypt could not be reached for comment, nor could those at the German hospital where he was reported to be being treated.
Mubarak has not said whether he will seek a sixth six-year term in the next presidential election in 2011 but many Egyptians believe he will try to hand power to his politician son Gamal, 46, if he chooses not to stand again.
RECENTLY ACTIVE
The operation would take place in Heidelberg, where he had the tests. State media said his wife and two sons including Gamal, as well as Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali, were there.
"I think the surgery going through is a minor surgery ... It seems there is no reason to be specially concerned at this point in time," said Gamal A.G. Soltan, director of the state-backed Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
He said the president had been active recently, pointing to trips around Egypt and meetings abroad, but said rumours were "understandable considering the president's age" and because Mubarak had not designated an heir.
Egypt held its first multi-candidate election in 2005, a system not in place when Mubarak took over from Anwar Sadat who was gunned down militants in 1981.
Mubarak easily won the 2005 vote which rights groups said was marred by abuses. Officials said it was fair.
Election rules make it almost impossible for anyone not backed by Mubarak's ruling party to stage a realistic run for the presidency, which analysts say means the next president is expected to come from the political or military establishment.
"I don't think there is a possibility of vacuum. People are probably not too happy with the arrangement but that is a different question," said one analyst who asked not to be named.
While many Egyptians believe Gamal Mubarak is most likely to succeed, it is far from certain, partly because he does not have a military background like Egypt's other presidents.
Omar Suleiman, the intelligence chief and a confidant of the president, has also been named a possible successor or king-maker. Analysts also say a dark-horse candidate from the military could emerge during any succession process.
Mubarak underwent surgery for a slipped disc at a Munich hospital in 2004, an event that sparked rumours about the succession and sent jitters through Egypt's financial markets.
In 2003, he collapsed briefly during a speech to parliament. Officials said that was caused by a combination of cold medication and fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
