Activists in Egypt test waters for President Hosni Mubarak's son to succeed him

CAIRO - A previously unknown group of activists in Egypt is putting up posters and collecting signatures urging Gamal Mubarak, the son and presumed successor of the country's leader, to run for president in next year's election.

The campaign appears to be a test of support for the younger Mubarak amid general unease about the prospect of a dynastic succession.

But the Popular Coalition for the Support of Gamal Mubarak says its campaign is a citizens initiative with no support from the man it seeks to elevate, who has often denied having presidential ambitions.

In Cairo's working-class area of Bab el-She'reyya, near the stone walls surrounding the old Islamic heart of the city, the campaign has splashed dozens of Gamal posters on the white tiles outside a cafe.

"Gamal Mubarak is a smart politician," said Magdy el-Kordy, the campaign's coordinator. "He feels the pulse of the people. We have launched the motto, 'Gamal Mubarak, the hope of the poor.' "

That campaign has been accompanied by another proclaiming support for Gen. Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief and another possible contender for the succession.

President Hosni Mubarak, 82, who has been in power since 1981, underwent gallbladder surgery in Germany in March. His absence for several weeks revived talk of his presumed plans for the younger Mubarak to succeed him. The elder Mubarak has not yet indicated whether he will contest presidential elections due next year.

"We feel that the era of Hosni Mubarak is about to end, even if it is not necessarily next year," said Mostapha Kamel el-Sayed, a political analyst. "We are not sure of the succession or of how the political scene will evolve."

He said he thinks the poster campaigns are a possible sign of a division within the ruling National Democratic Party over whether the younger Mubarak should be the next leader.

The posters promoting Suleiman labeled him "the alternative." An online statement presumed to be from the anonymous activists appealed to Egypt's "honorable army" to save the country from "the shame and disgrace of the succession which the president's son seeks."

The posters were taken down within hours by the authorities, who also banned newspapers from reporting on them.

Suleiman, 74, has never expressed an interest in being president and is not thought to be behind the poster campaign on his behalf.

Constitutional changes adopted in 2007 in effect bar independent candidates from running for president. The largest opposition force in the country is the banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates run as independents.

- Financial Times