CAIRO, June 19: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 76, will go to Germany on Sunday to have an operation for a slipped disc, an official source said on Saturday, amid persistent rumours about his health.

Health Minister Mohamed Awad Afifi Tag el-Din, quoted by the official news agency MENA, said the surgery scheduled for Monday was a simple operation to remove displaced cartilage by inserting a microscopic endoscope.

Mr Mubarak's doctors had two choices - either to treat the slipped disc with medication and physiotherapy over a long period or the quick operation, which Mr Mubarak chose, he added.

"It's a simple procedure. It would take about an hour and within the first day you start walking normally and recovery within two days," said Bassem Wahib, an orthopaedic surgeon at New Kasr el-Einy Teaching Hospital in Cairo.

Mr Mubarak has delayed several meetings with important visitors this month amid rumours about his health.

He put off a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom because of a sprained ankle, an official source said at the time, and a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie last week also took place later than expected.

But state television showed the president in apparently good health on Wednesday, standing and talking to reporters about Egyptian plans to help the Palestinians with security. Another official source said last week that he had had a health problem recently but had recovered.-Reuters