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.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from