Epress.am News from Armenia
Egypt’s powerful military backed President Hosni Mubarak’s plan to stay in office until September elections, enraging hundreds of thousands of protesters who deluged squares in at least three major cities Friday, marched on presidential palaces and broke through army barricades at the state TV building — key symbols of the authoritarian regime, AP reports.
The army’s show of solidarity with the president was a heavy blow to protesters who called on the military to take action to push Mubarak out after he announced Thursday night that he would hand most of his powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman but remain in office.
In a statement read out on state television at midday, the military announced that it would lift a 30-year-old emergency law but only “as soon as the current circumstances end”.
The military said it would also guarantee changes to the constitution as well as a free and fair election, and it called for normal business activity to resume, Al-Jazeera English reports.
The military statement, labeled “Communique No. 2” after a statement a day earlier, endorsed Mubarak’s plan to transfer some powers to Omar Suleiman.
But it said it would make sure that Mubarak and Suleiman — both military men — stuck to their promises for reform. The armed forces, it said, “are committed to shepherding the legitimate demands of the people and to work for their implementation within a defined timetable until achieving a peaceful transition all through a democratic society.”
Many protesters, hoping for Mubarak’s resignation, had anticipated a much stronger statement.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tahrir Square said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to “a last and final stage”.
“They’re frustrated, they’re angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions,” she said.
Protest organisers have called for 20 million people to come out on “Farewell Friday” in a final attempt to force Mubarak to step down.