Egypt finally rests tonight

Last night Mr. Mubarak announced that he would not step down and would never leave Egypt. His plan was to follow the constitution (which would be a first) and relinquish power in September 2011 at the next elections. But the people and some in the military were not buying into this plan and they made it clear when they marched to the Palace and made their voices heard. Hosni Mubarak left Egypt early this morning handing over power to the military.

The protests were all over Egypt - not just in Cairo - and by yesterday it seemed all peoples were on the streets. The doctors came out in their white coats, the trade unions had their workers join in and even the military stood with the people.  There was no way Mr. Mubarak could win this battle - even the Western powers  could not in good faith side with him - it would have been too embarrassing to show overt support of their autocrat friend and ally.

Mr. Omar Suleiman missed an opportunity to be a hero and lead the nation by standing with the people and persuading his buddy to step down. Instead he shows to dance to Mr. Mubarak's tune forgetting that power lies with the masses and not a single man.

Unlike in Ivory Coast where the military is still loyal and serving the recently defeated Laurent Gbago, Egypt's military understood and sympathized with the people. They now hold the reigns of power until the democratic elections take place later this year.

Mr. Mubarak was among the last few remaining dictators in Africa. Who is next? Bashir of Sudan?

Related links:
BBC
Al Jazeera English
The Huffington Post
Global Post

Egyptians are fed up...

Enough is Enough!

Hosni Mubarak is determined to remain in office.  Egyptians are furious - will they be silenced once again and accept the transfer of power in September and not today?

Omar Suleiman, the Vice President, seems to have accepted the demands of Mubarak and not of the people. His call for people to go back home, go back to work, and not listen to foreign media and continue living life back to "normal". This call sounds so familiar - similar calls were made by another autocrat - one who oppressively ruled Kenya (neighbor to the south of Egypt) for 24 years and had refused to leave in the hope of passing an amendment to make him life President.

The Egyptians have rejected Suleimans call!!!! The crowds want one thing only - Mubarak to step down.  Anger is clearly visible. This is just the beginning of the end... like in Tunisia.

What???? Hosni Mubarak is not stepping down???

I am here to stay

Mubarak is still in Cairo and will address the nation from from his palace in Cairo reports Al Arabiya - the national TV station. However, there are rumors that he is now in UAE and that the Minister of State is in currently in control. 


The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that this is a coup d'etat by the army but the people on the ground are denying this claim. The army and the people are in unity - they say.


The other new information coming out is that Hosni Mubarak is being asked to "step aside" not "step down". So he will transfer some of the powers to the Vice President, Omar Suleiman.


Are we seeing the birth of a new Republic????

Wind of change in Egypt - People Power!!!

It has been seventeen days of persistant protests and today we are seeing history in the making in Egypt. President Mubarak's future is being discussed behind closed doors and he will be making an announcement in a few hours.


This is being called the "winter revolution".  Euphoria is high!!  It seems that the Vice President Omar Suleiman will take over at least until a date is set for a democratic election.  


This is good news to Israel who have been watching the events unfold in silence but with great concern because the largest political opposition group in Egypt is the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the world's most influential Islamist movement and is not friendly towards Israel.


Israel prefers to have Suleiman replace Mubarak because he is friendly towards Israel and so will keep the peace treaty between the two countries active, The peace treaty was signed in 1979.


However, today it is about Egypt and its people. Will Mubarak step down????? No one knows... it is an uncertain time but we are watching a defining moment in history.