Egyptian leaders offer to hold talks
Source: Agencies |
January 28, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EGYPT'S ruling party said yesterday it was ready for a dialogue with the public but offered no concessions to address demands for a solution to rampant poverty and political change heard in the country's largest anti-government -protests in years.
At the same time, Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and the country's top pro-democracy advocate, was returning to the country yesterday night and declared he was ready to lead the protests. The country's largest opposition group - the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood - also threw its support behind the demonstrations.
Protests erupted for a third straight day and social networking sites were abuzz with talk that today's rallies could be some of the biggest so far calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak after 30-years in power.
Safwat El-Sherif, the secretary general of the National Democratic Party and a longtime confidant of Mubarak, was dismissive of the protesters at the first news conference by a senior ruling party figure since the protests began.
"We are confident of our ability to listen. The NDP is ready for a dialogue with the public, youth and legal parties," he said. "But democracy has its rules and process. The minority does not force its will on the majority."
Scores of protesters gathered in Cairo and other cities yesterday. In the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, east of Cairo, hundreds of protesters clashed with police who used tear gas and batons to disperse them.
Dozens of protesters were outside the Cairo offices of Egypt's lawyers' union, which has been one of the flashpoints of this week's unrest. About 100 people were also protesting outside police headquarters in the city of Suez.
There were two other small, peaceful protests by lawyers in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Toukh.
At the same time, Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and the country's top pro-democracy advocate, was returning to the country yesterday night and declared he was ready to lead the protests. The country's largest opposition group - the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood - also threw its support behind the demonstrations.
Protests erupted for a third straight day and social networking sites were abuzz with talk that today's rallies could be some of the biggest so far calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak after 30-years in power.
Safwat El-Sherif, the secretary general of the National Democratic Party and a longtime confidant of Mubarak, was dismissive of the protesters at the first news conference by a senior ruling party figure since the protests began.
"We are confident of our ability to listen. The NDP is ready for a dialogue with the public, youth and legal parties," he said. "But democracy has its rules and process. The minority does not force its will on the majority."
Scores of protesters gathered in Cairo and other cities yesterday. In the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, east of Cairo, hundreds of protesters clashed with police who used tear gas and batons to disperse them.
Dozens of protesters were outside the Cairo offices of Egypt's lawyers' union, which has been one of the flashpoints of this week's unrest. About 100 people were also protesting outside police headquarters in the city of Suez.
There were two other small, peaceful protests by lawyers in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Toukh.
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