Cairo:  An Egyptian father of septuplets has named his babies after President Hosni Mubarak and his family, according to a local newspaper.

Faraj Ali, whose wife gave birth to four baby boys and three girls earlier this week, has named the boys Hosni, Mubarak, Jamal and Ala'a after the names of the 80-year-old Egyptian leader and his two sons, reported the independent newspaper Al Masri Al Youm yesterday.

The three girls were given the names Suzanne, Khadija and Jihan after the wife of Mubarak and the spouses of his two sons. Ali's wife, Ghazala Khamis, gave birth to the septuplets at a hospital in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Saturday.

"The woman is in good health and has been taken from the intensive care unit to a maternity ward," said Dr Mohammad Al Samra, a member of the medical team looking after Khamis at Al Shatabi Hospital. "Her babies are in a relatively stable condition," he added.

The newborns have been in incubators since their birth. No date has been set yet for their discharge.

Khamis, 27, gave birth to the septuplets, which specialists say are a rare case, in a Caesarian section at the end of the eighth month of her pregnancy. Her multiple pregnancy was attributed to fertility drugs prescribed by a local doctor.

Governor of Alexandria Ali Labib has ordered LE5,000 [about Dh3,423] in aid to the father, who is a farmer in the Delta province of Buheira, to help him cover the costs of his newborns. Ali is already a father of three girls. The Governor is considering offering free milk to the septuplets, said Al Masri Al Youm.

Egypt's population has surged to nearly 80 million, according to the findings of a census declared in May.