Egypt Crisis: Pres. Mubarak Refuses to Step Down, White House in Disbelief & Confusion — UPDATE: Mubarak Has Left Cairo, No Word if He Relinquished All Power
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 11, 2011
Angry Egyptian activist shouting at an officer who blocked her way in downtown Cairo last week | Photo credit: Ben Curtis/AP
Pres. Hosni Mubarak has refused to step down, the Egyptian crisis is spinning out of control, and the White House has no idea what to do next.
The Team Obama script isn’t being followed.
From Wall Street Journal, Crisis Flummoxes White House – President Mubarak’s Refusal to Step Down Signals a Loss of Western Influence; Sense of ‘Disbelief’ After Speech:
WASHINGTON—The defiant tone taken by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak—and widespread confusion about the meaning of his speech—had White House officials stumbling for their next step in a crisis that was spinning out of their control.
Egyptian officials said Mr. Mubarak gave the Obama administration much of what it wanted: the delegation of presidential powers to the vice president, Omar Suleiman.
They said Mr. Mubarak had all but been rendered a figurehead leader, precisely the formulation set out by U.S. officials over the weekend.
But Mr. Mubarak’s language and refusal to yield to what he called the intervention of foreigners left protesters furious, the scene in Cairo precarious and the White House seemingly unable to influence events.
After a extended meeting with his national security team, President Barack Obama released the longest statement of the Egyptian crisis, making it clear the appearances of Messrs. Mubarak and Suleiman on Egyptian state television had muddled the transition process, not clarified it.
“The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient,” Mr. Obama said.
All day, as rumors swirled Mr. Mubarak would step down, administration officials struggled to understand what was happening, and even U.S. intelligence officials appeared baffled at one point. At a Capitol Hill hearing, Leon Panetta, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers there was “a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down this evening.”
Mr. Panetta clarified later in the hearing that the CIA had received reports that Mr. Mubarak would “possibly” resign but said he saw a transition scenario under which Mr. Mubarak would shift powers to Mr. Suleiman, something closer to what appears to have happened.
A senior intelligence official defended Mr. Panetta, saying he was referring to press reports in his comments rather than to CIA intelligence reports.
“The agency has been tracking developments very closely, and there were very real and rapidly unfolding changes over the course of the day in what has been—by any measure—an extremely fluid situation,” the official said. “That’s the nature of the intelligence business.”
After Mr. Mubarak’s speech, the White House was consumed with a sense of “disbelief,” one U.S. official said.
UPDATE… breaking news from New York Times, Mubarak Leaves Cairo as Crowds Surge:
CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, amid indications that a transfer of power was underway, Western officials said Friday. State television said Mr. Mubarak would issue a statement later.
The Egyptian military issued a communiqué pledging to carry out a variety of constitutional reforms in a statement notable for its commanding tone. The military’s statement alludes to the delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman and it suggests that the military will supervise implementation of the reforms.
Angry protesters, who had swarmed by the thousands into the streets here Friday morning, were hardly mollified by the news of Mr. Mubarak’s exit and an accompanying statement by the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces over state television and radio. They said they would not believe he was gone until he had formally relinquished his title as president, and until Mr. Suleiman, his handpicked successor, had been ousted as well.
The protesters did let out a cheer at news on state radio that Naguib Sawiris, a wealthy and widely respected businessman, has agreed to act as a mediator between the opposition and the authorities in carrying through the political reforms.
Mr. Suleiman himself has not made a statement. The military also did not indicate whether it intended to take the kinds of fundamental steps toward democracy that protesters have been demanding. This was the second direct statement from the military in two days, and it was not clear if the military was asserting more direct leadership or if it intended to signal that it stands behind the vice president.
Nor was it clear whether Mr. Mubarak is definitely relinquishing all power, although Western diplomats said they had received a barrage of calls from senior Egyptian officials assuring them that was the case.
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