Kalifornia
5th February 2011, 18:25
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41437590/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmAPuX7H87Gj89HlPWdBeVBB61uYLmZ oEpdU2abLkfFgII2enOYg
CAIRO — The top leadership body of Egypt's ruling party, including President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal Mubarak, resigned Saturday in a new gesture apparently aimed at convincing anti-government protesters that the regime is serious about reform, according to state TV.
The 82-year-old Mubarak quitting does not mean he has stepped down as president, but sends a promise of reform, an attempt to stop demonstrations, NBC News reported.
Protesters, however, have shrugged off concessions by the regime in the past 12 days of unprecedented street demonstrations, saying they will settle for nothing less than the immediate ouster of Mubarak, Egypt's ruler for nearly 30 years.
State TV said the ruling party's six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat resigned and was replaced. The council was the party's highest decision-making body, and Safwat el-Sharif and other outgoing members were some of the most powerful — and to many Egyptians, unpopular — political figures in the regime.
Protesters have refused to end their mass rallies in downtown Tahrir Square until Mubarak quits. Tens of thousands gathered Saturday in Tahrir, waving flags and chanting a day after some 100,000 massed there in an intensified demonstration labeled "the day of departure," in hopes it would be the day Mubarak leaves.
Their unprecedented 12-day movement has entered a delicate new phase. Organizers fear that without the pressure of protesters on the street, Mubarak's regime will enact only cosmetic reforms and try to preserve its grip on power.
So they are reluctant to lift their demonstrations without the concrete gain of Mubarak's ouster and a transition mechanism that guarantees a real move to democracy afterward.
From its side, the government has sought to draw opposition parties and the youth groups involved in the protests into immediate negotiations on constitutional reforms so presidential elections can be held in September to replace Mubarak. Protest organizers, wary of a trap, have refused until Mubarak goes.
At a press conference aired on state TV, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq suggested the government hopes to convince enough factions to enter talks that the others will be forced to join in.
Asked whether the Muslim Brotherhood, for example, will enter talks, Shafiq said, "Once they find the others are negotiation, for sure they will or they will be left alone ... The level of aspirations is going down day by day."
He noted that the protesters had changed their slogan from "day of departure" to a "week of steadfastness," saying that this was "because they failed on Friday" in forcing out Mubarak. "All this leads to stability," he said.
The government and military have promised not to try to clear protesters from Tahrir, and soldiers guarding the square continued to let people enter to join the growing rally.
But there were signs of tension Saturday.
At one point, army tanks tried to brought out tanks to try to bulldoze away several burned out vehicles that protesters used in barricades during fighting this week with pro-regime attackers.
The protesters say they want the gutted chassis in place in case of a new attack.
Protesters clambered onto the vehicles and lay down in front of them to prevent soldiers from removing them, and only after heated arguments did the troops agree.
Also, there were reports for the first time of attempts by troops guarding the square's entrances to prevent those entering from bringing food for protesters, thousands of whom have camped out for days and need a constant flow of supplies.
Mohammad Radwan, 31, said soldiers harassed him as he brought in supplies of bread, cheese and lunch meat and tried to confiscate some of the food until he shouted them down.
"They want to suffocate the people in Tahrir and this is the most obvious attack on them without actually attacking," he said.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmAPuX7H87Gj89HlPWdBeVBB61uYLmZ oEpdU2abLkfFgII2enOYg
CAIRO — The top leadership body of Egypt's ruling party, including President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal Mubarak, resigned Saturday in a new gesture apparently aimed at convincing anti-government protesters that the regime is serious about reform, according to state TV.
The 82-year-old Mubarak quitting does not mean he has stepped down as president, but sends a promise of reform, an attempt to stop demonstrations, NBC News reported.
Protesters, however, have shrugged off concessions by the regime in the past 12 days of unprecedented street demonstrations, saying they will settle for nothing less than the immediate ouster of Mubarak, Egypt's ruler for nearly 30 years.
State TV said the ruling party's six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat resigned and was replaced. The council was the party's highest decision-making body, and Safwat el-Sharif and other outgoing members were some of the most powerful — and to many Egyptians, unpopular — political figures in the regime.
Protesters have refused to end their mass rallies in downtown Tahrir Square until Mubarak quits. Tens of thousands gathered Saturday in Tahrir, waving flags and chanting a day after some 100,000 massed there in an intensified demonstration labeled "the day of departure," in hopes it would be the day Mubarak leaves.
Their unprecedented 12-day movement has entered a delicate new phase. Organizers fear that without the pressure of protesters on the street, Mubarak's regime will enact only cosmetic reforms and try to preserve its grip on power.
So they are reluctant to lift their demonstrations without the concrete gain of Mubarak's ouster and a transition mechanism that guarantees a real move to democracy afterward.
From its side, the government has sought to draw opposition parties and the youth groups involved in the protests into immediate negotiations on constitutional reforms so presidential elections can be held in September to replace Mubarak. Protest organizers, wary of a trap, have refused until Mubarak goes.
At a press conference aired on state TV, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq suggested the government hopes to convince enough factions to enter talks that the others will be forced to join in.
Asked whether the Muslim Brotherhood, for example, will enter talks, Shafiq said, "Once they find the others are negotiation, for sure they will or they will be left alone ... The level of aspirations is going down day by day."
He noted that the protesters had changed their slogan from "day of departure" to a "week of steadfastness," saying that this was "because they failed on Friday" in forcing out Mubarak. "All this leads to stability," he said.
The government and military have promised not to try to clear protesters from Tahrir, and soldiers guarding the square continued to let people enter to join the growing rally.
But there were signs of tension Saturday.
At one point, army tanks tried to brought out tanks to try to bulldoze away several burned out vehicles that protesters used in barricades during fighting this week with pro-regime attackers.
The protesters say they want the gutted chassis in place in case of a new attack.
Protesters clambered onto the vehicles and lay down in front of them to prevent soldiers from removing them, and only after heated arguments did the troops agree.
Also, there were reports for the first time of attempts by troops guarding the square's entrances to prevent those entering from bringing food for protesters, thousands of whom have camped out for days and need a constant flow of supplies.
Mohammad Radwan, 31, said soldiers harassed him as he brought in supplies of bread, cheese and lunch meat and tried to confiscate some of the food until he shouted them down.
"They want to suffocate the people in Tahrir and this is the most obvious attack on them without actually attacking," he said.