Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, clinging to power despite unprecedented demands for an end to his 30-year rule, met yesterday with the powerful military that is widely seen as holding the key to Egypt’s future.
Mubarak held talks with Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, whose appointment on Saturday has possibly set the scene for a transition in power, Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, chief-of-staff Sami al-Anan and other senior commanders.
An earthquake of unrest is shaking Mubarak’s grip on power and the high command’s support is vital as other pillars of his ruling apparatus crumble, analysts said.
Egyptians faced lawlessness on their streets yesterday with security forces and ordinary people trying to stop looters after five days of popular protest.
Through the night, Cairo residents armed with clubs, chains and knives formed vigilante groups to guard neighborhoods from marauders after the unpopular police force withdrew following clashes with protesters that left more than 100 dead.
Cairo’s streets were mostly deserted, with the army guarding the interior ministry, and citizens putting their trust in the military, hoping they would restore order but not open fire to keep key US ally Mubarak, 82, in power.
Amid a heavy military presence, nearly 4,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square, which has become a rallying point to express anger at poverty, repression and corruption in the Arab world’s most populous nation.
“Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, both of you are agents of the Americans,” shouted protesters, referring to the appointment of intelligence chief Suleiman as vice president, the first time Mubarak has appointed a deputy in 30 years of office.
Sunday is normally a working day in Egypt, but banks and financial markets were shut. The bourse and the central bank said they would stay closed today.
Meanwhile, 34 members of Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, including seven of its leaders, walked out of prison after relatives of prisoners overcame the guards, a Brotherhood official said.
The relatives stormed the prison in Wadi el-Natroun, 120km northwest of Cairo, and set free several thousand of the inmates, Brotherhood office manager Mohamed Osama told reporters. No one was hurt, he added.
Opposition forces also agreed yesterday to support former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei to negotiate with the government, a leading member of the Brotherhood said
The tumult was affecting Egypt’s tourist industry and the US, Turkey and Iraq said they were offering evacuation flights for citizens anxious to leave. Other governments advised their citizens to leave Egypt or to avoid traveling there.
Egypt said it had shut down the operations of satellite broadcaster al-Jazeera, which has shown footage of the demonstrations taking place in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria and heavy-handed police tactics to the rest of the Arab world.
In Cairo, the biggest immediate fear was of looting as public order collapsed. Mobs stormed banks, supermarkets, jewelry shops and government offices. Some suggested the chaos could herald a security forces crackdown.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
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