Amid protests, views of post-Mubarak Egypt emerge

Compiled from news reports

A new rally by nearly 100,000 protesters in Cairo and behind-the-scenes diplomacy from the Obama administration has piled more pressure on President Hosni Mubarak to make a swift exit and allow a temporary government to embark on an immediate path toward democracy.

Two days of wild clashes between protesters and regime supporters that killed 11 people this week seemed to have pushed the United States to the conclusion that an Egypt with Mubarak at the helm is potentially more unstable than one without him.

For the first time in the 11-day wave of protests, varying scenarios were being put forward by two opposing camps in Egypt and by the United States on how to usher the country into a post-Mubarak era after nearly 30 years of his authoritarian rule.

President Barack Obama said that discussions have begun in Egypt on a turnover of the government and he called for ``a transition period that begins now.''

``We want to see this moment of turmoil turned into a moment of opportunity,'' Obama said in Washington. He did not explicitly call for Mubarak to step down immediately, but U.S. officials said the administration has made a judgment that Mubarak has to go soon if the crisis is to end peacefully.

Under one U.S. proposal, the 82-year-old Mubarak would step down and hand power to a military-backed temporary government headed by his newly appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks. The government would prepare for free and fair elections later this year.

That would mesh in some ways with the demands of the protesters. But one significant difference was the timetable.

Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the leaders of the protesters, criticized the government's plan to reform the constitution within five months and hold presidential elections in September, saying that was too rushed.

It would take a full year under a transitional government to sufficiently loosen the ruling party's entrenched monopoly on politics before a truly democratic election can be held, ElBaradei said. The ruling party has squeezed out almost all rivals with a grip solidified in vote fraud, election rules tilted in its favor, widespread patronage, emergency laws and domination of the media.

``People are not stupid ... This is not really a genuine desire to go for reform,'' ElBaradei said of the government's timeframe. He said Mubarak must ``hear the clear voice coming from the people and leave in dignity.''

Mubarak has staunchly refused to step down until elections in September, and his prime minister said Friday that stance is ``unlikely'' to change.

The protesters have vowed to continue their rallies until Mubarak goes, and they seemed flush with a sense of victory and recharged determination after repelling pro-regime rioters who attacked Tahrir Square on Wednesday, sparking 48 hours of mayhem and pitched battles.

Europe's 27 leaders on Friday demanded Egypt's transition start "now" in a joint statement marking a policy U-turn in EU ties with its volatile neighbours on its southern flank.

Slammed for doing too little too late as unrest unfurls on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, European Union leaders condemned violence "in the strongest terms" and urged restraint in Egypt's "orderly transition."

"This transition process must start now," they added in Europe's toughest joint response to the turmoil in Egypt.

As "departure day" protesters massed in Egypt to demand President Hosni Mubarak stand down, British Prime Minister David Cameron said "today's peaceful demonstrations have shown I hope a yearning for democratic rights."

"Once transition begins, Europe should move fast to support it," he said. "This is not happening in some far-flung part of world" but in "Europe's backyard."

Under attack from European parliamentarians and rights groups for lagging behind the United States and putting security interests ahead of concerns for democracy, the EU statement also issued a veiled threat of suspending aid.

Though well below U.S. assistance, EU aid amounts to almost half a billion euros ($610 million) in the current three-year period.

The new EU stand was issued at a summit originally scheduled to discuss energy, but hijacked by the crisis in Egypt.

"Egypt should be taking steps to show there is a clear, credible, transparent path towards transition," Cameron said. "Frankly the steps taken so far haven't met the aspirations of the Egyptian people."

Debate over how to respond to events in Egypt was "lively," according to one diplomat, with Italy's Silvio Berlusconi hoping for a painless handover that would bring no bad future surprises, a prospect lurking in the back of leaders' minds.

Asked at a closing news conference whether Europe feared extremists might step into Mubarak's shoes, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said: "The risk may exist but one can't turn one's back on aspirations because there's a risk."

"We must avoid interfering," he said.

The protests across the Arab world have unleashed a separate storm within the EU, with the bloc's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, taking much of the flak for failing to give strong impetus to EU diplomacy.

She found an ally in small Belgium, with Prime Minister Yves Leterme calling for "Europe to speak with one voice, Mrs. Ashton's voice".

This week, five major EU members -- Britain France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- issued a joint call for an immediate transition in Egypt days before the 27 met.

"My conception of Europe is not that its 27 heads of state and government need to keep quiet because we're lucky enough to have Mrs. Ashton," countered Sarkozy when asked what he thought of her role.

Responding to criticism that Europe in the past backed authoritarian regimes in the region as a bulwark against Islamist extremists, the leaders pledged to turn a page in its foreign policy thinking.

EU leaders were "committed to a new partnership involving more effective support in the future to those countries which are pursuing political and economic reforms," their statement said.