U.S. group backs Gamal Mubarak

NEW YORK, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Around 80 activists in New York City have organized in support of a presidential bid for the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a supporter said.

Egypt is in the midst of a campaign cycle for parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2010 and presidential elections in November 2011. Mubarak, who assumed office following the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, hasn't made his 2011 intentions clear.

Hamed Abdel Azeem Bayoumi founded the National Association for Stability and Development, an organization in New York that supports a 2011 presidential bid for his son Gamal, the Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reports.

Bayoumi told Egyptian newspaper from New York City that the son of the Egyptian president is a clear leader. Though he said he never met Gamal Mubarak, Bayoumi said he favored his candidacy over possible opposition candidate Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency.

"I respect ElBaradei, although he spent 28 years abroad," he said. "He'd be better as a director of some scientific research academy."

Egyptian supporters of Gamal Mubarak claim several of his posters were torn down in recent weeks.

The 82-year-old Egyptian president was rumored to be in poor health following gall bladder surgery in Germany earlier this year. His office downplayed the concern, though it is rumored that he was grooming Gamal Mubarak for the presidency.