Egypt President Mubarak well, rumors just that

The hospital said that Mubarak is recovering just as any other patient would after the surgery he had had and there was nothing to worry about.

The Egyptian ministry of information issued a statement late on Saturday citing surgeon Markus Buechler of the Heidelberg University Hospital as saying Mubarak’s recovery was “progressing normally.”

Earlier in the day, a Russian TV report said Mubarak had died as did an Israeli newspaper, but both were revoked after the news became clear that the Egyptian leader was simply recovering from gall bladder surgery earlier in the week.

It was a false report from the Russian television channel that had sparked the calls for further information, but it also showed how closely the country was following the president’s health situation.

“It was a big deal and people were wondering what had happened, especially after the few reports that had said some strange things,” said one Twitterer in a statement to Bikya Masr.

He said that while people were watching, he doubted the government would allow something to happen like two years ago when rumors “got out of hand” and “a number of editors got in trouble for reporting them.”

He was referring to Ibrahim Eissa of the daily al-Dustour newspaper, which had run a series of articles highlighting the rumors concerning the president’s health.

The country’s foreign ministry did not respond to calls for a statement.