CAIRO, 20 September 2006 — The son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday hit out at US ambitions to export Western-style democracy to the region. “We reject these foreign ambitions to erase Arab identity in the framework of what they call the Greater Middle East initiative,” said Gamal Mubarak, who heads the ruling National Democratic Party’s political committee.

Mubarak junior, speaking at the opening of the NDP’s annual conference said Egypt’s response to the US policy would top the agenda of the three-day conference. The president’s son, who is also an assistant secretary-general of the ruling party, has repeatedly denied harboring ambitions to succeed his father.

But the opposition still accuses him of wanting to follow in the footsteps of Syrian President Bashar Assad who succeeded his father Hafez on his death. Gamal was received in Washington in May by National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and was also greeted by President George W. Bush.

Gamal promised a list of widespread reforms, amid harsh criticism from the opposition. “We do have a new vision. Some people did not believe us at first when we said this, and said we are just polishing our image,” said the younger Mubarak. “We (as a party) did not lose hope or give up. Real reforms are taking place. “And we support the government in their serious steps toward reform,” he added.

The annual meeting of the NDP yesterday was tarnished by protests held the night before where opposition forces protested against what they deemed “the corrupt party” and its “stagnant policies.”