Hosni Mubarak said, "despite incessant whispered discussions, no one in Egypt has any certainty about who will eventually succeed Mubarak nor under what circumstances." She said presidential son Gamal Mubarak was the most likely successor; some thought intelligence chief Omar Suleiman might seek the office, or Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa might stand. President Mubarak and his son denied this; they said "a multi-candidate electoral system introduced in 2005 has made the political process more transparent". "Nigerian Tribune" journalist Abiodun Awolaja described a possible succession by Gamal Mubarak as a "hereditary pseudo-monarchy." The National Democratic Party of Egypt continued to state that
Hosni Mubarak part in government consultations that dealt with the future disengagement of forces agreement with Israel. In September 1975, Mubarak went on a mission to Riyadh and Damascus to persuade the Saudi Arabian and Syrian governments to accept the disengagement agreement signed with the Israeli government ("Sinai II"), but was refused a meeting by the Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad. During his meetings with the Saudi government, Mubarak developed a friendship with the nation's powerful Crown Prince Fahd, whom Sadat had refused to meet or contact and who was now seen as major player who could help mend the failing relationship between