Barack Obama impatient for credible transition in Egypt

US president says the Egyptian government has yet to put forward a ‘credible, concrete and unequivocal path to democracy’ after President Hosni Mubarak refuses to step down Barack Obama expressed dismay at the failure of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to stand down and said the Egyptian government has yet to put forward a “credible, concrete and unequivocal path to democracy”, as Egypt prepared today for what protesters predicted would be the biggest protests yet. The US president’s patience appeared to be nearing its end after being wrong-footed and embarrassed earlier in the day by an expectation that Mubarak was planning to stand down. The US unhappiness with Mubarak was echoed by European leaders. The White House, the state department and the Pentagon will be seeking explanations from their counterparts in Egypt as to what went wrong. Obama’s critics claimed he had been set up and the whole incident reflected his naivety. The Obama administration had hinted early on Thursday that Mubarak was on the eve of departure. The CIA director, Leon Panetta, giving evidence before the House intelligence committee, predicted there was a “a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down” by Thursday night. Obama, on a trip to Michigan, shared the sense of optimism, saying the world was “witnessing history unfold”. But these hopes were dashed by Mubarak in a televised speech, leaving Obama and Panetta looking foolish. Panetta said later his comments had been based on erroneous news reports rather than CIA reports. Obama, returning from Michigan, watched Mubarak’s statement aboard Air Force One and, on landing, rushed to the White House for an unscheduled meeting with his national security advisers. He issued a statement afterwards that amounted to a rebuke, albeit mild, of Mubarak for not standing down. After a fortnight of dithering, it was the strongest statement by Obama in favour of democracy. “The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity,” Obama said, reflecting his dismay with Mubarak. He praised the protesters, aligning the US clearly behind them for the first time: “Those who have exercised their right to peaceful assembly represent the greatness of the Egyptian people, and are broadly representative of Egyptian society.” This amounted to a rejection of Mubarak’s claim that foreigners were behind the protests. Demonstrating scepticism with Mubarak’s claim to have handed over power to his vice-president Omar Suleiman, Obama said any reforms had to be “irreversible”. The Obama administration has been putting pressure on Mubarak since last week to stand down straight away, but Mubarak, in what appeared to be a direct snub to the US president, said he would not bow to international pressure. Mubarak’s response offers further evidence of the US’s slow decline from its status as superpower to a position where it is unable to decisively influence events in Egypt, in spite of that country being one of the biggest recipients of US military aid. The administration has shifted from solidly supporting Mubarak, to suggesting he should go now, only to back him at the weekend to remain in office until the autumn – a decision that secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, reversed hours later when she threw US support behind Suleiman. The foreign secretary, William Hague, issued a statement on Thursday night saying he was studying Mubarak’s statement closely. “It is not immediately clear what powers are being handed over and what the full implications are.” He called for an urgent but orderly transition to a broader government. Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, said Mubarak’s speech “was not the hoped-for step forward”. Nicolas Sarkozy expressed hope that Egypt would avoid an Iranian-style revolution: “I hope with all my heart for Egypt’s nascent democracy that they take time to create the structures and principles that will help them find the path to democracy and not another form of dictatorship, religious dictatorship, as happened in Iran.” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, expressed disappointment: “Mubarak’s speech is far from the needed break with the abusive system of the past 30 years. The US and EU governments should use their influence and their aid to encourage real reform.” Robert Springborg, professor of national security affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School, described Mubarak’s refusal to leave as “an enormously provocative step”. Stephen Grand, a Middle East specialist at Washington’s Brookings Institution, said the US must “use all of its leverage to get Mubarak to recognise that he needs to leave”, and cast doubt on Suleiman’s leadership. “Omar Suleiman has shown that he’s not a credible figure,” he added. Barack Obama Hosni Mubarak Egypt Obama administration US foreign policy Protest Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 11, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry