CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt's 79-year-old President Hosni Mubarak urged people in an interview published on Friday to ignore recent rumours of his ill-health, saying they were politically motivated.
"These rumours do not interest me. I continue my work without paying attention to such rumours whose sources and goals we know," Mubarak told the state-owned Al-Ahram daily, calling on Egyptians to "ignore such talk."
"The illegitimate movements behind these recent rumours do not want stability for the people, and have no aim but to detract from the achievements of Egypt and its people," he said in an indirect reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group in the country.
The Islamist group is officially banned, but it won 20 percent of the seats in parliament in 2005 with candidates running as "independents."
The government has repeatedly accused the group of wanting to destabilise the state, and has rounded up dozens of its members, including senior leaders, in recent weeks.
The latest crackdown on the Brotherhood, which began last December, has especially targeted the organisation's funding, freezing its assets and arresting prominent businessmen associated with the movement.
Forty members accused of money-laundering and financing a banned organisation are currently on trial in a military court. Human rights groups have repeatedly called on Egypt to stop using military courts to try civilians.
In the interview, Mubarak also defended Egypt's emergency law, which gives security forces broad powers to arrest and detain people without charge.
The emergency law "is not being used for political purposes," he said, "but it applies to all those who threaten stability and the fight against terrorism and extremism."
According to Amnesty International, some 18,000 people are being held in Egypt without charge under the emergency law, which is due to be replaced by anti-terror legislation next year.
Recent rumours about Mubarak's health have included his hospitalisation, travel abroad for medical treatment and even death, prompting him to make an unannounced visit to an industrial zone near his summer home on the Mediterranean coast in a bid to dispel the speculation.
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for more than a quarter of a century, underwent surgery for a slipped disc in 2004 and suffered a minor health scare while delivering a televised speech the year before.
The rise of his younger son Gamal through the ruling party ranks has fuelled speculation that the 43-year-old is set to become president after his father.
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