Mubarak: ‘If I go now there will be chaos’

Egyptian president has ‘had enough’ and ‘wants to go’ but still refuses to bow out before the autumn elections Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak refused yesterday to bow to pressure at home and abroad to stand down immediately, claiming that, though he was fed up and would like to go, he feared chaos if he did so. Mubarak, in the first major interview since the protests began, expressed no sense of betrayal over President Barack Obama’s call on Tuesday for him to begin the transition to democracy “now”. But there was a hint of resentment when he said Obama did not understand Egyptian culture and the trouble that would ensue if he left office immediately. “I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go,” Mubarak said in an interview with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. “If I resign today, there will be chaos.” Mubarak, in a statement on Tuesday, promised he would not stand for election in the autumn, but insisted he would remain in office until then, a formula that satisfied neither the protesters nor the White House. In spite of the widespread violence since Tuesday, Mubarak’s comments to ABC suggest that he was not planning an imminent departure from office or Egypt. “I would never run away,” he said. “I will die on this soil.” He was speaking on the eve of what protesters have dubbed “departure Friday”. The hours after Friday prayers are potentially the most explosive point of the week. Although the government is widely suspected of having employed thugs to beat up anti-government protesters, Mubarak, speaking from the presidential palace in Cairo, denied this and insisted that he was troubled by the violence. “I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other,” he said. When Mubarak was asked if he felt betrayed by the US after having been a longtime ally, Amanpour said he had waved his hands, rejecting the notion. Obama was a very good man, he said. But he had told Obama, in a phone call on Tuesday, that the US leader did not appreciate the consequences of leaving office straight away. “You don’t understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now,” Mubarak said. He reiterated Tuesday’s claim that he had decided not to seek re-election before the protests began. He also denied that he had been planning the succession of his son, Gamal, 46, who sat in the room during the interview. Mubarak said: “I never intended to run again. I never intended Gamal to be president after me.” Hosni Mubarak Egypt Middle East Protest Barack Obama Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 4, 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