Egypt Unrest: Mubarak Steps Down!

[peristalsiso]

-Gandhi

Fight smart, not hard.

 

[A1Kaid]

Mubarak is delusional.

But is anyone listening to John Bradley?

"It's the eve before the revolution and only galvanise it"

I refuse to believe he does not have Obama's backing. How can he get away with this without any repercussions?

What do you guys say?

This other commentator is talking about his "narcissim" and allegations of change in his speech, that he changed it.

I think there may be personnel within the Obama administration and foreign policy advisors that are supportive of Mubarak for stability and subservient reasons that Mubarak assures. Obama may be on the fence he hasn't clearly come out to support the protestors but understands doing so makes their cause seem foreign backed which is counter productive.

 

[AstanoshKhan]

How to get rid of dictators, lessons from Tahrir Square

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

Mubarak Lanat Allah with his regime remains...

Lesson for those who talk about revolution in Pakistan... You ll have no change unless you have the Army onboard... Their support is the only thing that can bring change in countries like Egypt and Pakistan...

 

[Elmo]

I think there may be personnel within the Obama administration and foreign policy advisors that are supportive of Mubarak for stability and subservient reasons that Mubarak assures. Obama may be on the fence he hasn't clearly come out to support the protestors but understands doing so makes their cause seem foreign backed which is counter productive.

It seems Mubarak is staying he has support of Army that's all he needs. Eventually the protests will wane and numbers of protesters will come down.

Mubarak and police should get tough on looters and those disrupting law and order. People are being robbed, stores looted, from what reports are saying. If street crime continues Mubarak may get a whole lot tougher on street criminals. The large crowds act as a cover for criminals in the dark to loot, pick pocket, "feel up" women, of course things nothing new to Egypt but becoming rampant. By the way why is it that nearly every protester in Tahrir square are men, almost the entire crowd seems to be men. Little number of women attending compared to the number of men. For like every women out protesting there are 15 men just an estimate.

How is it counterproductive? And counterproductive for whom in the first place?

When the US administrations can go into Iraq and Afghanistan, and do what they deem is right, here we are not talking about action but supporting what an overwhelming majority feels should be their right of determination. How stable is Egypt right now? Mubarak's removal is just one step in ensuring 'real stability'.

By maintain the status quo the US is not standing for democratic measures here.

with all due respect, to my view you muslims got things slightly wrong.

what you want in Egypt, like an economist said on CNN the other day, is banks lending to all Egyptians at reasonable rates, and medium-to-high-paying jobs to not go to insiders of the elite only.

The leadership at the very top of the country is of less importance than the middle and higher layers of the economy.

And a "strong leadership" can often be an asset.

I do believe the muslim brotherhood unable to function as government. They might be good at running hospitals and charity, but as government leaders they're likely to go the way of Hamas; radicalism -> worse neighborly relations -> worse economy -> more of the problems Egyptians have today.

Yes, you do want the top levels of government to ram it into the elite that they should not be quite so elitist when it comes to the economy, but I believe that if Egyptians play their cards right they can get this from mubarak and suleiman too.

How is Mubarak "strong leadership"?

If they could get it out of Mubarak and Suleiman, then why are they on the streets.

See things by standing in their shoes, don't ask them to look at issues by standing in yours.

 

[Durrak]

Defiant Mubarak refuses to resign
Egyptian president vows to remain in office until his term ends in September, and not bow down to 'foreign pressure'.

 

[Durrak]

Egyptians hold 'Farewell Friday'
Pro-democracy protesters in Egypt are calling for "millions" to take to the streets across the country in what could become the largest protests so far, a day after President Hosni Mubarak repeated his refusal to step down.

Massive crowds gathered in Tahrir Square ahead on Friday, chanting "the army and the people are one, hand in hand".

In a statement read out on state television at midday, the military announced that it would lift a 30-year-old emergency law but only "as soon as the current circumstances end".

The military said it would also guarantee changes to the constitution as well as a free and fair election, and it called for normal business activity to resume.

Many protesters had anticipated a much stronger statement. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Tahrir Square, said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to "a last and final stage".

"They're frustrated, they're angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions," she said.

Protest organisers have called for 20 million people to come out on "farewell Friday" in a final attempt to force Mubarak to step down.

Before Thursday's announcement in which the president said he was determined to stay in power, demonstrators had planned to hold a "Friday of martyrs" to commemorate the 300 or more who have been killed since protests began on January 25.

'Incredible scene'

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid said the side streets leading into Tahrir were filling up with crowds.

"It's an incredible scene. From what I can judge, there are more people here today than yesterday night.

"The military has not gone into the square except some top commanders, one asking people to go home ... I don't see any kind of tensions between the people and the army but all of this might change very soon if the army is seen as not being on the side of the people."
Hundreds of thousands were participating in Friday prayers outside a mosque in downtown Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.

Egyptian television reported that large angry crowds were heading from Giza, adjacent to Cairo, towards Tahrir Square and some would march on the presidential palace.

Mubarak said he was handing "the functions of the president" to Vice-President Omar Suleiman and that he would oversee an "exit" from the current crisis, and "realise the demands voiced by the youth and citizens ... without undermining the constitution in a manner that ensures the stability of our society".

Before he finished his much-awaited speech late at night, protesters camped in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Egypt’s revolution, shouted "donkey, leave!"

Egyptian state television did not broadcast the scenes of anger after Mubarak's speech.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said that halfway through Mubarak's speech, when the president spoke of his years in public service, people began taking off their shoes and waving them in the air in a dramatic Arab show of contempt.

"You could also see tears in some of the people's eyes ... a lot of screams of anger, people just breaking down in tears, people just breaking down in pain," our correspondent said.

Suleiman statement

Immediately after Mubarak's speech, Vice-President Suleiman called on the protesters to "go home" and asked Egyptians to "unite and look to the future."

"Youth of Egypt, heroes of Egypt, go back to your homes and businesses. The country needs you so that we build, develop and create," Suleiman said.

"Do not listen to tendentious radios and satellite televisions which have no aim but ignite disorder, weaken Egypt and distort its image."

More than 1,000 protesters moved overnight towards the presidential palace in the upscale neighbourhood of Heliopolis in central Cairo. A few dozens of them were still there on Friday morning, chanting "down, down Hosni Mubarak". The army did not try to remove them.

In addition to occupying Tahrir Square, pro-democracy protests have blocked access to the parliament building near the square.

Thousands of protesters were also surrounding the radio and television building in Cairo, which they see as a mouthpiece for Mubarak's regime.

Union workers have joined the protests over the past few days, effectively crippling transportation and several industries, and dealing a sharper blow to Mubarak’s embattled regime. Outraged by Mubarak’s defiance, many more workers vowed to join the planned protests on Friday.

The US and EU said the announcement to transfer some powers to the vice-president was grossly insufficient and falls short of genuine reforms demanded by the people.

"The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient," Barack Obama, the US president, said in a statement.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition figure, said Egypt "will explode" as a result of Mubarak's defiance and called on the Egyptian army to intervene "to save the country."

 

[peristalsiso]

How is Mubarak "strong leadership"?

Just sticking around for so long and fostering good relations with Israel against general arabic sentiment, can be considered strong leadership.

If they could get it out of Mubarak and Suleiman, then why are they on the streets.

Being on the streets sent a message to M & S.
I believe that if they are pressed for reforms without being ousted outright, they will comply with the wishes of the people of Egypt.

See things by standing in their shoes, don't ask them to look at issues by standing in yours.

Sometimes an outside view is useful.

 

[Solomon2]

Even without resigning, Mubarak and his gang are losing authority as well as legitimacy:

"The youth were hostile towards Tamer Hosni because he tried to support the regime when demonstrations first broke out across Egypt, but this is not the important matter here. It was the reaction of Tamer Hosni that was significant. Having previously enjoyed a high level of popularity amongst Egypt’s youth, he proceeded to cry hysterically, and swear he had been deceived. He said that the ruling regime had told him at the beginning of the crisis: Go out and say something, save the people! He added that he had come to Tahrir Square to tell the youth protestors he understood he had made a mistake! Tamer Hosni’s tearful outburst means there is now another source of authority in Egypt, coming from Tahrir Square. " link

 

[peristalsiso]

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition figure, said Egypt "will explode" as a result of Mubarak's defiance and called on the Egyptian army to intervene "to save the country."

So ElBaradei does not want the people to take the time to properly think over who will best lead the country?....

 

[Devil Soul]

Al Arabiya TV says Mubarak, family leave Cairo
REUTERS, Feb 11, 2011
CAIRO: Al Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak and his family had left Cairo to an unknown destination from a military airbase in the suburbs. It did not give a source.

A senior military source contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report. Al Arabiya had initially reported "news" that Mubarak and his family had left Egypt.

It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of the president and his family. It said the report that Mubarak had gone to Sharm el-Sheikh was "unconfirmed".

The news comes as protesters moved overnight to the Ittihadiya presidential palace in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis for the first time since protests started in Jan. 25.

The protesters gathered up against a barbed wire cordon around the palace, about 50 metres (yards) from the palace walls at its closest point.

Tanks and soldiers of the elite Republican Guard, responsible for the president's security, surrounded the palace, a Reuters witness said.

"The Republican Guard are protecting the presidential palaces," an armed forces source told Reuters.

A senior military source contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report that Mubarak had left Cairo. Al Arabiya had initially reported Mubarak and his family had left Egypt.

The president often spends time in Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular tourist destination on the Red Sea, and receives guests there.

 

[s90]

There will be an "important statement" soon from the office of Egypt's president, state TV reported.

 

[Devil Soul]

Mubarrak quits/resigns ...

 

[Devil Soul]

Egypt's Mubarak resigns as leader
Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as president of Egypt.

Vice-President Omar Suleiman made the announcement in a brief statement on state TV.

It came as thousands massed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for an 18th day of protest to demand Mr Mubarak's resignation.
BBC News - Egypt crisis: President Hosni Mubarak resigns as leader

 

[Ahmad]

people's power