Egypt army takes charge, Mubarak to address nation
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt‘s military announced on national television it had stepped in to “safeguard the country,” effectively seizing control and assuring protesters calling for President Hosni Mubarak‘s ouster that all their demands would be met. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a “strong likelihood” Mubarak will step down later Thursday.
Thousands of people flowed into the protesters’ camp in central Tahrir Square, already packed with tens of thousands, chanting “We’re almost there, we’re almost there” and waving their hands in V-for-victory signs. But euphoria that they were nearing their goal of Mubarak‘s fall was tempered with worries that a military takeover could scuttle their wider demands for true democracy, and many vowed to continue protests.
State television said Mr. Mubarak will speak to the nation Thursday night from his palace in Cairo. Information Minister Anas el-Fiqqi said he would not resign, state TV reported, and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said, “everything is in the hands of President Hosni Mubarak and no decisions have been taken yet.”
That raises the possibility that Mr. Mubarak could announce a half-measure, such as keeping his title while relinquishing his executive powers, a move unlikely to satisfy protesters.
The developments created new confusion about who is calling the shots in Egypt. The military’s moves had some trappings of an outright takeover to shepherd some sort of transition of power. But Mr. Mubarak‘s planned speech and his meetings beforehand with his Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq suggested they wanted to give the appearance of an orderly, constitutional handover of authority.
The head of Mubarak‘s ruling party, Hossam Badrawi, told the Associated Press he expects that Mr. Mubarak will “respond to protesters’ demands” in his evening speech.
The dramatic developments capped 17 days of mass anti-government protests, some drawing a quarter-million people, to demand Mubarak‘s immediate ouster. What began as an Internet campaign swelled into the stiffest challenge ever to Mubarak‘s nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule, fueled by widespread frustration over the regime’s lock on power, government corruption, rampant poverty and unemployment.
The protests had escalated in the past two days with labor strikes and revolts by state employees that added to the chaos, and in a sign of the government’s distress, top officials were warning of a coup or the imposition of martial law.
The military’s supreme council, headed by Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, appeared to hold the reins of leadership.
Footage on state TV showed Tantawi chairing the council with around two dozen top stern-faced army officers seated around a table. Not at the meeting were Mr. Mubarak, the military commander in chief, or his vice president Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted Jan. 25.
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