EGYPT - July 11- Mubarak Sees No Need For A Vice-president.

Pres Hosni Mubarak says in remarks published that there is no need to appoint a vice-president, suggesting he will leave open the post from which both he and his predecessor became leader. Analysts and the opposition Muslim Brotherhood said that by not appointing a vice-president, 78-year-old Mubarak strengthened the chances of his son, Jamal, becoming leader. Mubarak, president since 1981, has not said who might succeed him. But he has promoted Jamal, 42, to one of the most senior posts in the ruling party. Analysts say he would be an obvious candidate for president if Mubarak were to step down. Mubarak said in an interview with Massai newspaper it was not obligatory to appoint a vice-president, the post he held under President Anwar Sadat. "Our experience since the establishment of the republican system does not call to maintain it", Mubarak said. "If anyone says that I was deputy to President Sadat, well that happened before we moved on the path of democracy", he said. "Frankly, I fear that this post would lead to conflicts and mudslinging which obstruct national work". Not appointing a vice-president would make a Jamal presidency more likely as there would be no challenge from a Mubarak deputy for the leadership, analysts said. "It wouldn?t have been acceptable for him to appoint Jamal as vice-president", said Hala Mustafa, editor of Al Ahram Quarterly Democracy Review.