 Mubarak has been Egypt's leader since 1981 |
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has delegated his powers to the prime minister while he is in Germany for back surgery, local media reports say. Atef Obeid will take up "constitutional and legal powers and jurisdictions... until he returns," state TV said.
The operation, to repair a slipped vertebral disc, will take place in Munich on Monday.
An announcement that Mr Mubarak, 76, would undergo surgery follows official denials that he was in poor health.
He postponed a number of meetings this month.
Government-owned newspapers dismissed reports that Mr Mubarak had been admitted to hospital earlier this week as a ploy to undermine Egypt's stability.
Health Minister Mohammed Awad Tajeddin told the official Mena news agency that the surgery was a simple operation to remove displaced cartilage by inserting a microscopic endoscope.
He gave no details of when Mr Mubarak might be ready to return home from Munich.
One-Minute World News 
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