Arab League chief eyeing Mubarak's job?

CAIRO, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- There are no immediate plans to challenge Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 elections, the secretary-general of the Arab League declared.

Mubarak is expected to seek another term in office for 2011. He assumed power in 1981 following the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Amr Mousa, the secretary-general for the Arab League, said he hasn't made any formal decisions on whether to challenge Mubarak in 2011, the Muslim Brotherhood's Web site Ikhwanweb reports.

He said he would announce his decision when it was appropriate, noting every Egyptian citizen was entitled to nominate themselves for the post.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest political opposition group, was eliminated from Parliament in November elections. It has moved closer to Egyptian diplomat Mohammed ElBaradei, who returned to Cairo in February, fueling suspicions the former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate would run in 2011.

Gamal Mubarak, the president's son and assistant secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party, was rumored to be waiting in the wings to take the presidency. He hasn't made his intentions known, however.

Amid rumors of failing health and reports of plans to groom his son for the position, Egypt's 82-year-old president has yet to announce whether he intends to run for a sixth term.