The military’s statement Saturday had been eagerly awaited by the public and thousands of protesters still massed in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square. The crowds were still riding high on jubilation over the success in removing Mubarak on Friday after 18 days of unprecedented popular protests, but they promised to maintain pressure on the military to carry through long-sought reforms.
After the statement, the main opposition coalition — a loosely based grouping of youth and traditional opposition groups — said it would end its main protest in Cairo’s Tahrir, or Liberation, Square but would call for weekly demonstrations after Friday prayers.
The group also listed its demands for the first time during a press conference. Those included: the lifting of hated emergency laws, the forming of a presidential council and broad-based unity government, the dissolution of parliament and creation of a committee to amend or rewrite the constitution. They called for reforms ensuring freedom of the press, freedom to form political parties and more transparent media institutions.
The coalition also called for an investigation into allegations of endemic corruption within the regime and the trial of officials responsible for the deaths of protesters.
Some protesters not linked to the coalition said they would stay camped on Tahrir Square, and it was not immediately clear when the downtown area would be cleared.
Appearing on state TV, a military spokesman said the Armed Forces Supreme Council asked the current government appointed by Mubarak in his final weeks to continue operating until a new one is formed. The step appeared to be a stopgap measure to keep the state and economy functioning while a transitional administration is set up.
Protesters have called for dramatic steps to ensure Egypt moves to a real democracy after nearly 30 years of autocratic rule under Mubarak and his ruling party. Protest organizers have called for the dissolving of parliament — which is almost entirely made up of ruling party lawmakers — the forming of a new, broad-based transitional government and creation of a committee to either amend the constitution or totally rewrite it.
The Armed Forces Supreme Council, a body of the topmost generals that now rules Egypt, has not said whether it will carry out any of those steps. But Saturday’s statement also did not rule it out.
In the square, some protesters welcomed the cautious first measures, despite distrust of the government put together by Mubarak as a gesture early in the wave of protests.
“It was a good thing,” said Muhammed Ibrahim, a 21-year-old from the Nile Delta town of Banha who joined the crowds in Tahrir. “We don’t want there to be a political void.”
The spokesman, Gen. Mohsen el-Fangari, appeared on state TV in front of a row of Egyptian military and national flags and read the council statement, proclaiming respect for the rule of law — perhaps a sign that the military aims to avoid imposing martial law.
The military is “looking forward to a peaceful transition, for a free democratic system, to permit an elected civil authority to be in charge of the country, to build a democratic free nation,” he said.
The military underlined Egypt’s “commitment to all its international treaties,” reassurance that it continues to honor the 1979 peace treaty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the military’s statement, saying the treaty “has greatly contributed to both countries and is the cornerstone for peace and stability in the entire Middle East.”
Israel has been deeply concerned that Egypt’s turmoil could threaten the peace accord. Egypt’s military strongly supports the peace deal, not in small part because it guarantees U.S. aid for the armed forces, currently running at $1.3 billion a year.
Anti-Israeli feeling is strong in Egypt, and many of the hundreds of thousands of protesters expressed anger at Mubarak’s close cooperation with Israel on a range of issues. Still, few seriously call for the abrogation of the treaty, realizing the international impact.
The emphasis in the military statement was on keeping the state and economy functioning after the turmoil of the past three weeks, which were a heavy blow to Egypt’s economy. For days, many businesses and shops were closed, much of Cairo’s population of 18 million stayed home under heavy curfew, and foreign tourists — one of the top sources of revenues — fled the country. This week, even as businesses began to reopen on a wide scale, labor strikes erupted around the country, many at state industries or branches of the bureaucracy.
The military relaxed the curfew — now to run from midnight to 6 a.m. instead of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. — and the Stock Market announced plans to reopen on Wednesday.
The Supreme Council asked the public, particularly the millions in the government sector, to “work to push the economy forward,” el-Fangari said, an apparent call for everyone to return to work.
The military also called on the “current government and provincial governors to continue their activities until a new government is formed,” el-Fangari said. The statement did not address when a new government would be formed.
CAIRO (AP) – Egyptians were hopeful Saturday but faced an uncertain future, with many protesters vowing to stay camped in a central Cairo square until they hear “clear assurances” that their demands for democracy will be met.
Burnt-out vehicles were being towed away and Egyptian soldiers swept the streets and cleared barricades to open at least road leading to Tahrir, or Liberation, Square after a night of jubilant celebration and nearly three weeks of protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak to surrender power to the military.
Protesters were divided. Some took down their makeshift tents and headed home. Others vowed to stay put until the military, which has pledged to shepherd reforms for greater democracy, issues a promised statement on its next steps.
Those could include the dissolving of parliament and creation of a transitional government.
“We have to see how the army will orchestrate a democratic transfer of power. We have to wait and see,” said Ali Mohammed, a sales manager camped out on the square.
Under a banner reading “the people managed to oust the regime,” two other protesters argued about whether to clear the downtown square near the famed Egyptian museum.
Shopkeeper Gomaa Abdel-Maqsoud says he’s been in Tahrir Square since the protests began on Jan. 25 and is ready to go. He says “I have never seen such happiness in peoples’ faces before; what else do I want?” he asked.
Nadal Saqr, a university professor, insisted protesters should stay until the army offers “clear assurances” that their demands for democracy are met.
Elsewhere, Egyptians in coffee houses and on the street scoured newspapers for details about the astonishing events from the day before — when hundreds of thousands marched on Mubarak’s palaces in Cairo and Alexandria and besieged state TV, leading the military to effectively carry out a coup at the please of protesters.
The 82-year-old former leader, meanwhile, remained with his family in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, according to local officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information.
Mubarak’s downfall at the hands of the biggest popular uprising in the modern history of the Arab world had stunning implications for the United States and the West, Israel, and the region, unsettling rulers across the Mideast.
President Barack Obama’s senior military adviser was heading to the Mideast Saturday to reassure two key allies — Jordan, facing its own rumblings of civil unrest, and Israel, which sees its security at stake in a wider transformation of the Arab world.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was stopping first in Amman for meetings Sunday with senior Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II. Jordan has seen five weeks of protests inspired by unrest in Tunisia and later Egypt, though the numbers of marchers has been decreasing.
He then was to Tel Aviv for meetings and ceremonies Sunday and Monday marking the retirement of his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, and talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. Mullen had no plans to visit Egypt on this trip.
Israel is deeply worried about the prospect that Mubarak’s ouster could lead to the emergence of a government less friendly to the Jewish state.
Any break seems unlikely in the near term. The military leadership supports the treaty. Anti-Israeli feeling is strong among Egyptians, and a more democratic government may take a tougher line toward Israel in the chronically broken-down peace process. But few call for outright abrogating a treaty that has kept peace after three wars in the past half-century.
