Mubarak’s Wife Says Husband Has Been Vindicated

CAIRO — Nearly four years after the popular uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power in disgrace, his wife, Suzanne Mubarak, is celebrating his vindication, she told a Kuwaiti journalist in an interview published online over the weekend.

“I had been praying to God to prolong the life of President Mubarak so that he may live to see his acquittal of accusations and lies,” Mrs. Mubarak said, referring to recent court decisions dropping convictions for murder and corruption handed down after the revolt.

It was the first time Mrs. Mubarak had spoken publicly since her husband’s ouster, and her comments appeared to be part of a campaign to rehabilitate his image.

Even the government seems to believe it is time to move on from grievances against Mr. Mubarak and his inner circle. Since taking power, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a former top army general, like Mr. Mubarak, has surrounded himself with officials from Mr. 

Mubarak’s governMrs. Mubarak, for her part, appealed mainly for sympathy, striking a wounded but nurturing tone that brought to mind a nickname she cultivated in philanthropic campaigns as first lady: Mama Mubarak.ment.

Her sons, Gamal and Alaa, are still in prison for financial crimes, and Mrs. Mubarak said that after visiting them she would often weep alone. “The ugly slanders” have caused her great pain, she said.

“I want to hold my son and cry on his chest, but I cannot,” she added, “because my breakdown would hurt them and they need someone to support them in their distress.”

She disputed the frequent rumors she had wielded power behind the scenes of her husband’s presidency. “Not once did I ever interfere in the formation of the ministerial cabinet,” she said, “and I had nothing to do with politics in the first place."

And, making headlines in Egypt, she also denied the widespread reports that she had sought to see the presidency pass to her son Gamal, who had been a leading figure in Mr. Mubarak’s governing party and universally regarded as his presumptive successor.

“I never intended to have my son Gamal inherit power, because the life that I lived with my husband was not wonderful at all, and I do not wish for my son to live it,” Mrs. Mubarak said, adding, “If we had been planning to pass on power, we would have had our sons enter the military” because Egypt can be led only by “a son of the military.”

She said both her sons had a chance to flee Egypt before their arrests, but chose to face the charges. “Their exit would mean an escape from confrontation, and we did not raise them to run away,” she said.

She spoke in a four-hour interview with the Kuwaiti writer Fajer al-Saeed at Mrs. Mubarak’s home in Cairo, and the breaking of her four-year silence dominated the Egyptian news media on Monday. But unlike the period of vicious criticism after the revolt, the news media’s tone on Monday was notably respectful.  Read More at Mubarak’s Wife Says Husband Has Been Vindicated

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