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Egypt Protests Continue, Despite Government Concessions

February 07, 2011
By RFE/RL

Protests continued in the Egyptian capital today after thousands of demonstrators camped overnight at the city's central Tahrir Square.

Some of the demonstrators barred access to the square's main administrative building, frustrating efforts by residents to process passports and birth certificates.

Other protesters sat directly in the path of military tanks surrounding the square, preventing the army from retreating and leaving the activists vulnerable to progovernment thugs.

The number of protesters has dwindled since swelling to hundreds of thousands last week amid growing calls for the country's president for the last 30 years, Hosni Mubarak, to step down.

But the mood remains defiant, with protesters rejecting a number of concessions from government negotiators and saying they will not abandon the demonstrations until Mubarak is out.

Mubarak's key ally and potential successor, Vice President Omar Suleiman, attempted on February 6 to appease protesters by inviting some opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to participate in talks on democratic reforms.

A government spokesman said the parties had agreed to form a committee to draft a series of constitutional and legislative reforms. Negotiators also agreed to open an office for complaints about the treatment of political prisoners and to loosen media restrictions.

But Suleiman, Egypt's former intelligence chief, stopped short of saying he would agree to step in for the 82-year-old Mubarak, a key opposition demand that would help clear the way for a political transition.

'Egypt Is Not Going To Go Back'

Western leaders have shown little outward support for Mubarak since the start of the protests, although few have called on him openly to resign.

Washington -- which provides more than $1.5 billion in annual foreign aid to Egypt and long considered Mubarak key to its Middle East strategy -- has indicated Mubarak should step down when his term expires in September, but not sooner.

Speaking to American broadcaster Fox News, U.S. President Barack Obama said Egypt had changed forever as a result of the massive protests that first broke out nearly two weeks ago.

"Egypt is not going to go back to what it was. The Egyptian people want freedom, they want free and fair elections, they want a representative government, they want a responsible government," Obama said.

Some Western observers are concerned that opposition groups will not have enough time to prepare for elections if Mubarak steps down too soon.

The continued uncertainty -- which follows similar unrest in Tunisia and Yemen -- has caused a spike in worldwide oil prices, with worries the Egypt events could spread to still other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, disrupting energy supplies.

with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/egypt_protests_ continue_despite_government_concessions/2299985.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.