Mubarak Stepping Down

Mubarak Stepping Down, (AP) – The mood in Tahrir Square, was exultant. Finally, the demonstrators thought, their historical moment had come: President Hosni Mubarak was about to quit. Then the euphoria turned to fury. As Mubarak began to speak on television Thursday night, his voice echoes on loudspeakers audio and mobile radios, the words of the huge crowd expected never came.

The discomfort turned to head-shaking disbelief and mutterings of disgust. Then anger surged, and tears of frustration fell. Mubarak did not resign. Even before he finished speaking, people were booing and chanting “Go away!” and “We’re not happy!” while waving their shoes in the air, the plant facing a large outdoor screen that speech the president of notes behind a podium.

Gesturing with shoes is a grave insult in the Arab world. But is the crowd who felt insulted, cheated, their expectations shattered after a day of conflicting reports on what was to come in the Egyptian crisis.

One of the rumors fueled in part by a military statement that the protesters’ demands are met, is that Mr. Mubarak would resign. Instead, he handed power to his vice president and promised reforms, including repeal of emergency laws hated.

He said he was “categorically to continue to assume my responsibility to protect the constitution and safeguard the interests of the people” and vowed he would stay in the country.

The numbers of Egyptians who oppose him, though, see no real reform is possible as long as Mubarak remains in office. They said they would stage more protests, and some have even called for the army to oust him. The BBC reports, “in accordance with Article 84 of the Egyptian Constitution, if the president steps down, the speaker of the People’s Assembly shall temporarily assume the presidency. Second, a new president must be chosen in a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the vacancy of the presidential office. It is not clear whether this applies if the Supreme Military Council is in charge of the affairs of the nation. “The next 24 hours and the weekend that followed will be a time to ease tensions in Cairo, demonstrators returned to their homes and a power struggle begins to take place. The short-term outlook, however, is still fluid and unpredictable.

Mubarak Resigns

Mubarak Resigns, (AP) – Barack Obama called for “orderly and effective” transition to democracy in Egypt Thursday amid reports that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was about to resign. U.S. intelligence indicated a “strong probability” that Mubarak would resign as early as Thursday evening, the CIA director, Leon Panetta, told Congress earlier. Egyptian television said the embattled president would speak to the nation from his palace in Cairo.

“We follow the events in Egypt today very closely,” Obama said, adding he would “have more to say it will end. ”

“What is absolutely clear is that we are seeing history unfold,” Obama told students at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich. “This is a transformative moment.”

Mubarak has been under enormous pressure from protesters pushing for an immediate end to its capacity of 29 years in power.

Washington officials followed the drama in Cairo with the expectation of hope for a smooth transition – mixed with concern about the unpredictability of evolution.

“There is no doubt that what we see happening in Egypt will have a huge impact,” Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee. “If done right, it will help much in trying to promote stability in this region. Should this not occur, it could create serious problems for us and for the rest of the world.”

Obama said, “The people of Egypt want changes, they turned in extraordinary numbers and ages and all walks of life.” More importantly, Obama said he was young ” who were at the vanguard “of change request.

“We want these young people, and we want all the Egyptians to know America will do everything we can to support an orderly transition and genuine democracy in Egypt, he told his young audience. Obama was in Michigan to promote plans to expand access to high-speed wireless.

Sameh Shoukry, Ambassador of Egypt to the United States, told The Associated Press in Washington, he was a “fluid situation” and “there are indications that something extraordinary will happen.”

The regime of President Hosni Mubarak seems to be on the verge of collapse after senior politicians said they want him removed from power in the coming hours as strikes and demonstrations spread across the country.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told the BBC he thought that Mubarak would resign and that the situation in the country will be clarified soon.

Hossam Badrawi, the new secretary general of the ruling party, was quoted in state media as saying that he asked Mubarak to transfer power to his vice-president, Omar Suleiman, and that the expected to resign tonight. But he later told state television that no decision had been taken.

While street protests intensified in recent days, it became increasingly difficult to imagine the Egyptian strongman hanging power until presidential elections scheduled for September. Mubarak had promised reform too often in the past, than betray his word every time. For members of the protest movement, Mubarak who clings to power symbolized everything they came to oppose the Egyptian political system calcified.

“If Mubarak resigns, it will be a positive and important development that will not end the tragedy in Egypt, but it will mark the end of the beginning,” said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Obama stressed that the transition should” begin now to Egypt, and the resignation will be irrevocable proof that the transition has begun. This increases the chances that the transition will be orderly and peaceful, as opposed to the chaotic and violent. “

Egypt, Obama

Egypt, (AFP) – The administration of President Barack Obama on Friday expressed “deep concern” by the unrest in the U.S. ally Egypt has urged Cairo to prevent its security forces and embark on immediate reform.

The wave of popular anger that has produced a fourth day of violent mass protests has riveted the attention of the president, who is kept informed of events of each day of multiple briefings, the White House.

Instead of everyday memory of President, Obama received a 40-minute presentation on the situation in Egypt’s National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and other members of his national security team, the White House press secretary, Tommy Vietor said.

They included John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and the fight against t*rror*sm, and Robert Cardillo, deputy director of national intelligence for the integration of intelligence.

And as the U.S. television networks showed street brawls and burning buildings in Cairo, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed concern about events in a country that is an ally of U.S. diplomacy Peace in the Middle East and the fight against t*rror*sm.

“We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against demonstrators and we urge the Egyptian government to do everything in his power to prevent the security forces,” Clinton said.

“At the same time, protesters should also refrain from violence and to express themselves peacefully,” the chief U.S. diplomat.

“We urge the Egyptian authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations and to reverse the unprecedented measures taken to cut communications,” she added.

The protest movement in Egypt has mobilized the youth and the middle classes using the Internet and social networks in a challenge for the authorities that saw two Swedish sites Twitter and video-streaming Bambuser blocked.

Dire events “underline that there are deep grievances in Egyptian society” that cannot be resolved through violence; it has the strongest demand yet public policy changes and others.

“As partners, we firmly believe that the Egyptian government should immediately engage with the Egyptian people in the implementation of necessary economic reforms, political and social,” she said.

Recalling a speech she gave in Qatar two weeks ago, just as avant-garde events in Tunisia were reaching a crescendo, “Clinton said Arab leaders should” to see civil society as a partner and not as a threat. ”

Within hours of that speech in Doha, the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had fled the country for Saudi Arabia.

Before the protests, U.S. officials had pushed for reform in the wings, but have been criticized for not taking a stronger stance in public, especially in the wake of parliamentary elections in Egypt last November.

Washington has also invested tens of millions of dollars in pro-democracy organizations in Egypt to the chagrin of President Mubarak, according to diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks and published by a Norwegian newspaper Friday.

Obama, Robert Gibbs, the press secretary earlier in the balance with the reaction most critical of the White House still in turmoil.

“Very concerned about the violence in Egypt,” Gibbs wrote about the microblogging site Twitter.

– The government must respect the rights of the Egyptian people & run on social networks and the Internet. ”

The State Department also had its say.

“The events in Egypt are of deep concern,” department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Twitter, the latest in a wave of those messages.

Contrary to the concerns expressed, on Friday, Clinton on Tuesday urged all parties to “exercise restraint” during the protests but said the U.S. believes that the Egyptian government is stable.

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