Muslim Brotherhood met & talked with Egypt govt
Vice President Omar Suleiman met on Sunday with opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the official MENA agency said, amid an unprecedented uprising against President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday said that she supported Suleiman’s talks with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Clinton on Saturday threw her weight behind talks between Mubarak’s handpicked Suleiman, and opposition groups, saying the government’s dialogue with the opposition must be given time.
"To hear … that Mubarak should stay and lead the process of change, and that the process of change should essentially be led by his closest military adviser … would be very, very disappointing," opposition activist Mohamed ElBaradei said.
Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt’s opposition Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday it will start landmark talks with authorities as senior members of President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party quit and Washington lobbied for a quick power transition.
Muslim Brotherhood said it would start talks with authorities "to see up to what point they are ready to accept the demands of the people."
An official from the brotherhood, which the government has accused of trying to profit from the sweeping protests posing the greatest threat to Mubarak’s three-decade-old grip on power, said talks will take place between them and Egypt’s new Vice President Omar Suleiman.
They will be the first talks ever between the government its bete noire.
"Keeping in mind the interests of the nation and its institutions and concerned about preserving the country’s independence …we decided to begin talks to see up to what point they are ready to accept the demands of the people," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official also said the dialogue was aimed at eliminating "foreign or regional interference in our affairs," in an effort to distance the group from Iran, which has called for the installation of an Islamist regime in Egypt.
The brotherhood, which is officially banned but tolerated in Egypt, is the best-organised opposition movement drawing on a vast social aid network.
Protesters reject resignation
State television said the executive committee of the ruling National Democratic Party had resigned en masse. Among those stepping down was Mubarak’s son Gamal, once viewed as his heir apparent, but demonstrators staging a 12th day of anti-regime protests rejected the shuffle as a cosmetic move.
Meanwhile, information minister denied Mubarak’s resignation as ruler of the National Democratic Party
The resignations came after Mubarak huddled with his new government for the first time.
"Some people say it is cleaning out but I believe these are cards they are throwing on the table to please the street, it’s like a striptease show," said Mahmud Momen, a 46-year-old businessman.
Farid Ismail, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said the resignations were a sign of the regime’s demise.
"The regime’s pillars are crumbling. This means that the revolution of the youth has caused a large earthquake and many of the regime’s symbols are falling — it is trying to save itself," he declared.
The political turmoil in Cairo loomed large over international meetings in Munich, Germany, where Obama’s special envoy Frank Wisner said Mubarak should stay in office during a democratic transition.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa on Friday entered Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where tens of thousands of protesters massed for an 11th day to demand the ouster of Mubarak, his office said.
More protests & mass
On Sunday the protesters said that they are vowing for another ‘million protest’ in Tahrir square which has been blocked by the army.
The army stepped up pressure overnight on the protesters who have occupied central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, tightening a cordon around the area, but on the political front new avenues of dialogue opened up.
Protesters celebrated a mass in the square — the epicentre and symbol of the revolt against the regime to remember the estimated 300 people who have been killed since demonstrations against Mubarak began.
"God bless the dead. God bless the dead," recited a Coptic priest wearing a crucifix. By his side, a Muslim sheikh stood holding a Koran, as the faithful chanted "A single hand. A single hand" in inter-faith solidarity.
Meanwhile, a measure of normal life began to return to the biggest city in the Arab world, with queues forming in front of banks that had been shut for more than a week and workmen scrubbing down shop fronts.
"The president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through," Wisner, who met Mubarak this week, told the Munich Security Conference via video link, describing the leader as an "old friend" of the United States.
"President Mubarak’s continued leadership is critical," he said.
But officials in Washington quickly distanced themselves from Wisner’s remarks, saying he spoke as a private citizen.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke Saturday to several foreign leaders about the unrest in Egypt and underscored the need for "an orderly, peaceful transition, beginning now," the White House said in a statement.
The U.S. leader spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the statement said.
Cameron and Obama agreed that "real, visible and meaningful change needed to start now" in Egypt, a Downing Street spokesman said.
"The prime minister said that a clear and credible roadmap to change was needed as soon as possible, including a path to free and fair elections," the spokesman added.
At least 300 people are believed to have been killed and thousands injured since the protests began on January 25, according to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Mubarak’s government meeting
With big crowds swelling anew in Tahrir Square, Mubarak on Saturday met for the first time with the government he swore in five days earlier.
Present were his new prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, the ministers of petroleum, trade, finance and social solidarity, and the head of the central bank, state news agency MENA reported.
Elsewhere in Egypt, a pipeline in northern Sinai sending gas to Jordan was attacked, officials said, prompting gas supplies to Israel to be halted also. It was unclear if the attack was linked to the anti-regime protests.
A blast followed by a fire was reported at a Coptic church in Rafah bordering the Gaza Strip, although a local official denied an explosion was the cause.
France said it had suspended sales of arms and riot police equipment to Egypt two weeks ago after the outbreak of the mass protests.
Despite a return to relative calm, Egypt’s stock exchange will not reopen on Monday, as previously announced, MENA reported. Banks, however, were due to resume business on Sunday.
Mubarak, 82, said he is "fed up" and pledged he will not stand in September’s election, but has said he will stay in power until then, while calm is restored.
The protest is increasingly gaining an international momentum. U.N. rights chief said on Sunday that "change is coming to Egypt, as it came to Tunisia."
‘Back to work’: govt
Mubarak’s government aimed to get people back to work on Sunday with banks and businesses reopening, in the first clear test of how far his opponents can keep up the momentum of protests to force him out.
And with some Egyptians keen for a return to normal, the government appears to be trying to emphasise the threat to stability and the economy from the protests, and tough it out.
The reopening of banks at the start of Egypt’s working week will give the first clear indication of the economic toll of almost two weeks of protests against Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
"We want people to go back to work and to get paid, and life to get back to normal," Egyptian army commander Hassan al-Roweny said. He was touring Tahrir Square to try to convince protesters to leave the usually busy intersection at the heart of the city.
The United States, Egypt’s ally and aid donor, is stressing the need for gradual change and talks between the government and opposition groups on an orderly handover of power.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday threw her weight behind talks between Mubarak’s handpicked vice president, Omar Suleiman, and opposition groups, saying the government’s dialogue with the opposition must be given time.
Sunday’s bank openings will test how worried foreign investors are about the events that have sent shockwaves across the Middle East. Egypt was inspired by a Tunisian revolt. Since then protests have spread to Yemen and Jordan.
Protests in US
Hundreds calling for the ouster of Egypt’s president peacefully demonstrated in several U.S. cities on Saturday to show their support for the anti-government throngs that have taken over a sprawling public square in Cairo.
About 150 people gathered outside the New Orleans federal building to demand that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak step down. Meanwhile, about 180 people demonstrated in Atlanta outside the headquarters of CNN. In Washington, more than 100 marched from the Egyptian Embassy to the White House, following protests in that city on Tuesday and last Saturday. Rallies were also held in New York and Seattle.
At the New Orleans demonstration, the group waved signs and Egyptian flags and chanted "Get up, stand up! Stand up for your rights."
"That’s a drop in the bucket," Egypt native Reda Bakeer, a 57-year-old engineer, said of the protest he joined. "I have friends who are dying. We have joined a party here."
Some protesters expressed concern about the increasingly dangerous situation in the country, where anti-government protesters and Mubarak supporters have clashed in the streets.
Bakeer, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1991, said he was concerned about family members in Egypt, including his elderly mother. But he added: "It’s bigger than my family."
Ahmed Bayoumi, a 42-year-old engineer who came to the United States to study in 1999, said the Egyptian dissidents have taken to the streets for the same reason he left the country – a lack of opportunity. He said that the Mubarak regime had "corrupted the souls of Egyptians."
"It has been pushing the thought that if you’re well-connected and have money, you will have prosperity," he said.
Cheney says Mubarak "good man"
Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney praised Mubarak on Saturday as "a good man" and a strong friend of the United States, but said the Egyptian people will decide his fate as leader.
"He’s been a good man, he’s been a good friend and ally to the United States, and we need to remember that," Cheney said during a question-and-answer session at a tribute to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
"In the end whatever comes next is going to be decided by the Egyptian people," he said.
Cheney, a frequent critic of Obama, offered no opinions on Obama’s handling of the crisis but said it was important to conduct diplomacy in private.
"It is very hard for some foreign leader to act on U.S. advice in a visible way," he said.
Cheney was U.S. defense secretary in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. He said Mubarak was a vital contributor to the military response against Iraq, granting overflight rights to U.S. planes and contributing troops to the war effort.
He declined to make a prediction about Mubarak’s future.
"I don’t know. But I also think there comes a time for everybody when it’s time to hang it up and move on," he said.
"You get to the point where the years add up, the burdens become tougher to deal with. But as I say, that’s a decision that only the Egyptians can make."