Amr plays at exclusive reception

SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt - The bride is the daughter of a rich businessman. An intelligence chief was the witness at the wedding. And the lavish party celebrating the week-old marriage was held Friday night at the very resort where world leaders gathered to discuss Iraq.

But Egypt's real attention is on the groom, the son of President Hosni Mubarak and — many Egyptians believe — his heir-apparent. The marriage has put new attention on the son's controversial political role, and the uncertainty it creates in a key U.S. ally. Gamal Mubarak, whose father has ruled with authoritarian powers for 26 years and turned 79 on Friday, has long denied any interest in running the country. In an interview this week, he repeated that, telling the Arabic satellite TV channel Orbit, "I'm not looking for any executive post."

But key leaders in Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party clearly want him to succeed his father, and many Egyptians think he has been tapped to become president.

Even the wedding, which the family insisted was purely private, added to the debate: Some Egyptians think it was meant to ensure the 43-year-old former investment banker meets the expected family-man model in a conservative society where most men marry in their 20s or early 30s.

A small protest Friday in Cairo's main square was indicative of the mood just before the reception at the posh Four Seasons Hotel here in Sharm el-Sheik, a Red Sea resort. Organizers said the main slogan for the protest was directed at Gamal: "Marry her and not our country."

The guest list for the party was not released. But U.S. officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not plan to attend and would fly home to Washington after the summit's end.

Gamal Mubarak and his 24-year-old bride, Khadiga al-Gamal, were married April 28 in a religious ceremony conducted by the grand sheik of the Al-Azhar mosque at an air force reception hall in Cairo.

According to independent Egyptian newspapers, the country's powerful intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, was the official witness — a role often played in Egypt by a favorite uncle.

No photographs from the ceremony were published and state-owned media said only family attended. But opposition newspapers and blogs claimed 500 people were guests, and speculated about the cost of the bride's wedding dress and ring.

Gamal Mubarak said in this week's TV interview that only family and friends would be at Friday night's reception and that Egyptian singer Amr Diab would perform.

Nevertheless, even the venue in Sharm el-Sheik caused political sniping. The president is often criticized as being out of touch with ordinary Egyptians — with the long periods he spends at this beach resort offered as prime evidence.

Mubarak's wife does not wear a Muslim head scarf, in contrast to an estimated 80 percent of Egyptian women, and neither does his new daughter-in-law.

But the biggest complaints against the government involve its tight control of the political process and the country's weak economy.

Egypt undertook limited democratic reforms in 2005 under strong U.S. pressure, and reform groups launched several protests against the president then. But the reforms have withered and recent constitutional changes are seen as expanding the ruling party's dominance.

Likewise, the country has undertaken a few economic reforms but remains far more stagnant than its booming, investment-rich Persian Gulf neighbors. Unemployment is reported officially at 12 percent and the poverty level near 20 percent, the World Bank says. Corruption is rife.

Link