Egypt vice president had good ties with Israel: cable

In a 2008 US diplomatic memo, leaked to the British newspaper by WikiLeaks, David Hacham, an adviser at the Israeli ministry of defence (MoD), told US officials the Israelis expected Suleiman, spelt Soliman in some cables, to take over.

"Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a 'hot line' set up between the MoD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use," the cable sent from the US embassy in Tel Aviv said.

"Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim president if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated.

"We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman," the September 2008 memo cited US diplomats as saying.