Cairo: Opponents of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have lashed out at a leading official in the ruling party for stating that the nation's next president should be approved by the US and Israel.

"These statements expose the extent to which Egypt's alliance with the US can reach," said Abdullah al-Senawi, the editor of the opposition newspaper Al Arabi.

"Had any opposition figure made such a statement, the ruling party would have hastily dismissed it as nonsense. Ominously, it was made by an official who has been close to President Mubarak for a long time," Al Senawi told Gulf News.

In an interview with the independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm published on Wednesday, Moustafa Al Fikki, a leading member of Mubarak's party and the chairman of the parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said: "Unfortunately, Egypt's next president needs to be approved by the US with no objection from Israel."

Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, has yet to say if he will seek a sixth six-year term, when his current tenure expires next year. A couple of years ago, he said he would "continue to serve Egypt so long as I can breathe".

Over recent years, speculation has been rife that Mubarak, 81, is grooming his influential son Jamal to succeed him. Both Mubaraks have repeatedly denied such claims.

"Al Fikki' s statements substantiate such speculation," said Al Senawi. "Neither the US nor Israel would balk at having Jamal as the next president." Jamal, a Western-educated banker, has ascended to the top echelons of the ruling party where he is now leading the influential Politics Committee.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The treaty was brokered by the US, which offers more than 1 billion dollars in economic and military aid to Egypt.

Dismissing Al Fikki's statements as "loose talk based on no information", Majdi al-Daqaq, another member of Mubarak's party, said in press remarks that Egypt's ties with Washington are those of "partnership, not subordination".

"It is strange that these statements, which constitute an affront to Egypt and infringe its independence, were made by a man who has a leading place inside the nation's power structure," said Al Daqaq.

"Whoever becomes Egypt's president will take over through popular will and in accordance with the constitution."

Al Fikki, an ex-diplomat, served as the information secretary for Mubarak for several years.