Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak will not attend a meeting of African leaders in Sudan because he has a cold, presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said on Monday. "President Mubarak wanted to attend ... but like anyone else, he has come down with a cold," he said. In a report published late on Sunday, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had delivered a letter from Mubarak to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir expressing regret at not attending the African Union meeting, which starts later today. "Despite his inability to take part in the summit, the Egyptian leader expressed confidence that the wisdom of President Bashir and other African leaders would render this important summit a success," the MENA report said.
