Mubarak calls first cabinet meeting since surgery

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak convened his first cabinet meeting Thursday since returning to Egypt, in an effort to convey a "business as usual" facade.

His prolonged absence sparked a political crisis in the North Africa nation.

The meeting was held in Sharm el-Sheik, where Mubarak has been staying since his return to the country. Egyptian state television released the first footage of the president since he landed in Egypt last month.

Mubarak appears dressed in a suit conversing with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and other ministers. The meeting focused on internal financial and socials affairs. Mubarak instructed the government to raise social aid budgets.  

A separate meeting on security issues was held with Egypt's Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. "This is the first official meeting with a group of ministers," spokesman Magdy Rady told Reuters.

Mubarak, 81, and in power since 1981, handed over presidential powers to the prime minister just before his operation on March 6 and reassumed them upon his return to Egypt on March 27.

He has yet to announce whether he will be running for the next presidential elections in 2011.

Many in Egypt believe that should he decide not to run, Mubarak will permanently hand over his powers to his son Gamal.

The issue of Mubarak's health is particularly sensitive in Egypt and is considered taboo. His hospitalization in a Heidelberg hospital in Germany two months ago for a gall bladder procedure caused a problem for the government in Cairo.

No new images of the president were released for many weeks and it was feared the president was in serious condition. He finally returned to Cairo late last month.