Mubarak set to quit as military takes control
Source: Agencies |
February 11, 2011, Friday
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Egypt's military announced on national television yesterday that it stepped in to "safeguard the country" and assured protesters that President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that the longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down.
The dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mubarak's immediate ouster spiraled out of control.
Footage on state TV showed Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi chairing a meeting of around two dozen top stern-faced army officers, seated around a table. Not at the meeting were Mubarak, the military commander in chief, or vice president Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted on January 25. That could be a sign that Suleiman, as well, was being pushed out of power.
General Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will be met today." Some in the crowd held up their hands in V-for-victory signs, shouting "the people want the end of the regime" and "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," a victory cry used by secular and religious people alike.
Tantawi was heading a meeting of the military's supreme council. Its spokesman read a statement on state TV announcing its "support of the legitimate demands of the people."
He said the council was in permanent session to explore "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people" - a suggestion that the council was now in charge of the country.
The statement was labeled "communique number 1," further phrasing that suggested a military coup.
The head of the ruling party, Hossam Badrawi, said he expects Mubarak will "address the people to respond to protesters' demands."
The moves came after protests yesterday increasingly spiraled out of the control of efforts led by Suleiman to contain the crisis. Labor strikes erupted around the country in the past two days, state employees revolted against their directors and workers began joining the crowds of anti-Mubarak protesters centered for the past 17 days in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Yesterday, hundreds of lawyers in black robes broke through a police cordon and marched on one of Mubarak's palaces - the first time protesters had done so. The president was not in Abdeen Palace, several blocks from Tahrir. The lawyers pushed through a line of police, who did nothing to stop them.
The dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mubarak's immediate ouster spiraled out of control.
Footage on state TV showed Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi chairing a meeting of around two dozen top stern-faced army officers, seated around a table. Not at the meeting were Mubarak, the military commander in chief, or vice president Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted on January 25. That could be a sign that Suleiman, as well, was being pushed out of power.
General Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will be met today." Some in the crowd held up their hands in V-for-victory signs, shouting "the people want the end of the regime" and "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," a victory cry used by secular and religious people alike.
Tantawi was heading a meeting of the military's supreme council. Its spokesman read a statement on state TV announcing its "support of the legitimate demands of the people."
He said the council was in permanent session to explore "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people" - a suggestion that the council was now in charge of the country.
The statement was labeled "communique number 1," further phrasing that suggested a military coup.
The head of the ruling party, Hossam Badrawi, said he expects Mubarak will "address the people to respond to protesters' demands."
The moves came after protests yesterday increasingly spiraled out of the control of efforts led by Suleiman to contain the crisis. Labor strikes erupted around the country in the past two days, state employees revolted against their directors and workers began joining the crowds of anti-Mubarak protesters centered for the past 17 days in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Yesterday, hundreds of lawyers in black robes broke through a police cordon and marched on one of Mubarak's palaces - the first time protesters had done so. The president was not in Abdeen Palace, several blocks from Tahrir. The lawyers pushed through a line of police, who did nothing to stop them.
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