US plotted to oust me, says Mubarak

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, seated, and his two sons, Gamal Mubarak, left, and Alaa Mubarak, right. Photo / AP

Egypt's former leader Hosni Mubarak claimed the United States was plotting to overthrow him as far back as 2005, according to a series of leaked recordings of conversations with him in prison.

In chats with prison officials and his doctor, Mubarak gives his views on Egypt's continuing political crisis, dating its start not to the street uprisings that led to his downfall in February 2011 but to American opposition to his son, Gamal.

"The revolution was started by the Americans in 2005," he can be heard saying. "I felt that, and they told me so.

"I told them I would leave power in 2011, and not hand over to my son - what they called inherited power."

Mubarak at first refused to compromise with protesters, and by the time he agreed to US demands that he promise not to stand again for elections due to take place in September 2011, or to hand over power to Gamal, it was too late and the momentum that led to his immediate departure from office had already built.

It is not clear how the recordings, in which his voice is clearly identifiable, were leaked to an Egyptian daily newspaper.

Mubarak is heard to favour the army's current political control, since he argues that Egypt requires military leadership. He shows little remorse at the chaotic situation in which he left Egypt. In fact, he seems to suggest things would be better if he were still in power.