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Egyptians march against Mubarak on "Departure Day"
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Egyptians march against Mubarak on "Departure Day"
Reuters - 1 hour 8 minutes ago
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By Dina Zayed and Shaimaa Fayed
CAIRO - Hundreds of thousands of defiant Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo on Friday to demand an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, but there was no sign of the army or the president's U.S. allies forcing him out just yet.
Cairo's Tahrir Square was teeming with people chanting "Leave, leave, leave!," waving Egyptian flags and singing the national anthem, with a beefed-up military presence keeping pro-Mubarak activists away to prevent any bloodshed.
Friday prayers were held on the square in an 11th day of unprecedented mass rallies to try to topple Mubarak. One cleric praised the "revolution of the young" and declared: "We want the head of the regime removed."
"Game over" said one banner, in English for the benefit of international television channels beaming out live coverage. Effigies of Mubarak hanging by the neck dangled over the square.
Turnout nationwide seemed short of the more than one million seen on Tuesday and which leaders had hoped to match on what they called "Departure Day," a week after last Friday's "Day of Wrath" to voice rage over poverty, repression and corruption.
Some Egyptians, weary of disorder, feel Mubarak did enough this week by pledging to step down in September and were wary of more violence by Mubarak loyalists, but others were resolute he had to quit to usher in a new chapter of modern Egyptian history.
Despite mass street protests and concessions by government, Mubarak's fate now lies as much in deals struck among generals keen to retain influence and Western officials anxious not to see a key ally slide into chaos or be taken over by Islamists.
The role of the army, revered in Egypt compared to police and other security apparatus which are feared, is vital in determining the future of the Arab world's most populous nation.
European Union leaders echoed calls from the United States for Mubarak to do more than promise not to run in September's election: "This transition process must start now," they said.
The 82-year-old president said on Thursday he was "fed up" but would not stand down as that would create chaos in Egypt.
PROMINENT FIGURES
A handful of prominent figures from academia and business said they proposed a compromise under which newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, a former intelligence chief who has the confidence of Washington, should take over real authority.
This would allow Mubarak to serve out his fifth term as a figurehead leader and end his tenure with a degree of dignity.
There was a festive, weekend atmosphere as secular, middle-class professionals and pious, generally poorer, members of the mass Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, mingled, sang and chanted in Tahrir Square.
Away from the square, groups of Mubarak loyalists harassed journalists. Others tried to deter people from demonstrating. But there was little of the extreme violence seen on Wednesday and Thursday when shots were fired and clubs and iron bars used.
The Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera said on Friday that its office in Egypt's capital Cairo had been burnt and destroyed by "gangs of thugs."
Earlier, the veteran defence minister visited the square, inspecting troops who were out in force promising to protect demonstrators after the bloodshed of previous days and prompting the crowd to chant that the army and the people were as one.
Some demonstrators said they understood a need for patience, but would keep up the pressure: "He's bound to leave now, the only question is when," said Khaled al-Khamisi. "I think the army does not want to see him humiliated."
There were also demonstrations in Suez, Ismailia and Port Said, all east of Cairo, as well as Nile Delta cities to the north such Mansoura, Damanhour and Qalyoubia. More demonstrators protested in Aswan in the south.
In a reminder of how events in Egypt are linked to a wider confrontation between Islamists and Western powers in the oil-rich Middle East, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed an "Islamic liberation movement" in Egypt.
Iran's anti-Western, Islamic revolution of 1979 against the repressive, U.S.-funded shah has been cited by some in Israel and the West as creating a possible precedent for Egypt to turn into a major hostile force to Western power in the region.
OPTIONS ON TABLE
U.S. officials said they were discussing with Egyptians options to start a handover of power to keep Egypt stable.
Though President Barack Obama has called publicly only for an immediate start to "transition," one option, a U.S. official said, was for Mubarak to be replaced immediately.
Mubarak and ministers in the government he appointed a week ago in response to the protests insist stability is better and have appealed over the heads of the marchers to a wider public.
"More than 95 percent of the Egyptian people would vote for the president to complete his presidential term ... and not now as America and some Western states want," new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was quoted as saying by state media.
Shafiq's team have taken pains to try to present a moderate face to the public, apologising for violence by pro-Mubarak groups this week and pledging to provide order and democracy.
New Finance Minister Samir Radwan told Reuters the economic losses after 11 days of protest will be "huge." The tourist business, centred on pyramids and beaches, was badly hit. One million tourists have left the country since the tumult started.
ISLAMIST ASSURANCES
The long-banned Muslim Brotherhood has sought to allay Western and Israeli concerns about its potential to take power in a free vote.
A day after Vice President Suleiman broke ground by saying the Brotherhood was welcome to join a national dialogue, it said it would not seek the presidency. Such a dialogue would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Scenting victory, the loose-knit opposition, which includes liberal figurehead Mohamed ElBaradei as well as the Brotherhood, has rejected talks until Mubarak resigns.
Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League and former Egyptian foreign minister, said he believed Mubarak would hold on until September's election.
"But there are extraordinary things happening, there's chaos and perhaps he will take another decision," he added.
Moussa, spoken of by some as a possible successor to Mubarak, told France's Europe 1 radio that he would consider standing. He later joined protesters in Tahrir Square.
Any new government will face major challenges, not least the sheer diversity of long-suppressed political opinion, religious tensions and the high expectations aroused by the demonstrations of solutions to unemployment and other economic ills.
The United Nations estimates 300 people have died in the unrest, inspired in part by protests in Tunisia which forced veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee last month and which have since spread to other parts of the Middle East.
In Algeria, opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with protests planned for next week, despite concessions on political freedoms and measures to create jobs announced by the government on Thursday to address complaints.
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