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Egypt Protesters Call For More Demonstrations To Oust Mubarak

February 08, 2011
By RFE/RL

Thousands of protesters in Cairo have returned to Tahrir Square for a third week of demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak's regime, despite a government pledge on February 7 to raise public-sector wages and pensions by 15 percent.

Today's demonstrations test the ability of demonstrators in Cairo and other Egyptian cities to maintain pressure on Mubarak.

With the government increasingly trying to squeeze demonstrators out of central Cairo, protest leaders say the key to their demonstrations is to keep the momentum going.

Protest leaders have called for renewed nationwide street action today and again on February 11 in a bid to keep up momentum.

That call for a surge by demonstrators follows reports on February 7 that life for Cairo residents was beginning to return to normal as shops reopened for business and traffic started to flow on streets that had been blocked for the past two weeks by security checkpoints and crowds of demonstrators.

Little Progress In Talks

Meanwhile, a second day of talks between Egypt's government and opposition groups was expected today after reports that the regime had conceded little ground in a meeting on February 6.

Opponents of Mubarak initially expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in the first round of talks with Vice President Omar Suleiman.

Egypt's largest opposition group, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, said it would only continue negotiations if all the protesters' demands were granted -- including the immediate resignation of Mubarak, constitutional amendments, freedom of the press, and an end to Egypt's state of emergency.

But the government said parties at those talks -- including the Muslim Brotherhood and other independent political figures -- had agreed to form a committee of judges and politicians "to study and propose constitutional amendments and required legislative amendments...by the first week of March."

Suleiman said today that the embattled Egyptian president issued a decree to form a commission that would be tasked with overseeing constitutional amendments and "required legislative amendments."

Suleiman also said negotiators also agreed to open an office for complaints about the treatment of political prisoners, to loosen restrictions on media, and to lift an emergency law "depending on the security situation."

But the regime continues to refuse the key demand of the antigovernment demonstrators -- the immediate resignation of Mubarak. Suleiman said he would not assume Mubarak's powers and rule in his place during a period of transition.

'I'm No Hero'

Meanwhile, a young Google executive who was detained by Egyptian authorities for 12 days was freed on February 7.

Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for the Middle East and North Africa operations of the Internet firm, admitted to reporters that he was behind the Facebook page that helped spark the protests in Egypt.

Ghonim wept throughout an emotional television interview after his release, describing how he spent his entire time in detention blindfolded while his worried relatives didn't know where he was. He also insisted that he hadn't been tortured while in detention.

"We want our country to change. I ask you, really, please don't turn me into a hero. I am not a hero, okay? I am not a hero. I am a very ordinary person. The heroes are the ones on the street," Ghonim said.

"Please, everybody, I ask you.... We won't leave our country until we change it. And we will take our rights; we will take them."

Which Way Will Egypt Go?

The United States, adopting a cautious approach to the crisis, has urged all sides to allow time for an "orderly transition" to a new political order in Egypt -- for decades a strategic ally.

After several days of mixed messages, U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has coalesced around a position that cautiously welcomes nascent reform efforts begun by the newly appointed Suleiman.

In Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that Egypt could ruthlessly suppress the uprising against Mubarak in a way similar to Iran's crackdown on mass protesters after a disputed presidential election in June 2009.

Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament that there were three possible outcomes to the Egyptian crisis -- "liberal and democratic reforms" in Egypt, an Islamist takeover of the country, or the possibility that "Egypt follows Iran's example."

written by Ron Synovitz, with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/egypt_protests/2300876.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.