CAIRO: Charismatic Arab League chief Amr Mussa could emerge as a leading figure in his native Egypt, as masses demanding President Hosni Mubarak's ouster seek a new commander of the Arab world's most populous country.
Mussa, whose second term as head of the 22-member league ends in two months, said on Friday he might run for the presidency.
Friday was dubbed "the day of departure" for Mubarak by hundreds of thousands who have massed into Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square since January 25 to demand an end to the veteran strongman's 30-year rule.
Asked if he would stand in the next elections in Egypt, Mussa replied: "Why say no?"
"I am of course at the service of my country... I am ready to serve as a citizen who has the right to be a candidate," he told France's Europe 1 radio before making an appearance at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the anti-Mubarak protests.
Mussa, 75, a former foreign minister, is a dynamic figure with a quick sense of humour and charisma that often eclipsed that of his former boss Mubarak. His popularity stems from his strong stands against Israel and language that appeals to the Arab street.
Days after a popular uprising in Tunisia, Mussa warned during an Arab summit in Egypt of the "unprecedented anger" in the region, sealing his legacy as an Arab public figure in touch with the people.
"The Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession ... The political problems, the majority of which have not been fixed ... have driven the Arab citizen to a state of unprecedented anger and frustration," he told Arab leaders who had remained mostly silent on events in Tunisia.
European and Arab diplomats believe he is a candidate who could appeal to both the people and international figures.
"There is an avenue for Amr Mussa. He is compatible with the current establishment. He was part of the system before being sidelined," a senior European diplomat told AFP.
Always impeccably dressed, Mussa excelled as Egypt's foreign minister for a decade between 1991 and 2001.
But his popularity at the time reportedly drew the ire of Mubarak and eventually pushed him into the less influential position of head of the Arab League -- a body criticised for its lack of clout.
In a much-recalled sign of his status at home, Mussa made a triumphant entry to Cairo football stadium in 2006 where he was loudly applauded by some 100,000 Egyptian fans at the final of the African Nations Cup.
"If he were to run for president one day, in a free vote, he would be a sure-fire winner," said one of the diplomats in Cairo where the Arab League has its base.
Under the current constitution, a presidential candidate would have to be nominated by a party that has been in existence for five years.
As an independent candidate, he would need to secure the backing of 250 elected officials including from the lower and upper houses of parliament and from municipal councils-- all bodies currently dominated by Mubarak's National Democratic Party.
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