Cairo, Nov 19: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was taken ill while addressing Parliament today, Egyptian state television said after interrupting broadcast of his speech. Mubarak, 75, was seen coughing, taking out a handkerchief and wiping perspiration from his brow moments before the station cut the broadcast of his speech in the People's Assembly for several minutes.

Sound transmission continued for seconds longer than the picture, with coughing and shouting heard. When the broadcast of the assembly resumed, Mubarak was absent from the podium and a television announcer reported that the President had suffered a "minor health problem."

More than 20 minutes after the incident, Mubarak had not reappeared. The Assembly Speaker, Fathi Srour, told the chamber, where both the Parliament and the Senate were meeting in a joint session, that "the President is fine and in several minutes he will come back to resume his speech."


Mubarak had postponed to today the keynote speech he had originally planned to deliver to Parliament Sunday after falling ill with a fever, officials said. Sources in Parliament had said the President was suffering from a high temperature.

Every year Mubarak reviews his government's domestic and foreign policy in a speech marking the opening of Parliament.

Bureau Report