Mubarak not to bequeath power to son

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 75, whose recent illness sparked debate over his successor, said in remarks broadcast on Thursday he would not bequeath power to his son.
"The regime of Egypt is a republican regime and there is no inheritance of power," Mubarak said in a telephone interview broadcast on state television. Egyptian officials have previously dismissed talk that Mubarak has been grooming his son, Gamal, as a successor.
In 2002, Gamal was appointed by the ruling National Democratic Party to head a pivotal policy-making committee, a move many saw as paving the way for him to take over from Mubarak.
Such rumours have persisted, despite official denials, partly because Mubarak has never appointed anyone to the vice presidency, the position held by the successor in the two previous transfers of power in Egypt.
Under the constitution, if the president dies in office, the parliament speaker, now Fathi Sorour, takes over for 60 days until new presidential elections can be held.