Is Gamal Mubarak, the son of the Egyptian president, being groomed to succeed him? He denies it and so does his father, Hosni Mubarak, the 78-year old president who has ruled Egypt for a quarter of a century. But the newly-resurgent opposition press and the privately-owned newspapers insist that is the plan.

It is perhaps a measure of the margin of freedom carved out by the press over the past two years that, despite the denials, the subject has become a staple of almost every edition they put out. Those who insist that the younger Mr Mubarak will succeed his father say his meteoric rise in the ruling National Democratic party is proof enough. They also point to the fact that no one can identify another credible candidate from the NDP.