Egyptians pave way for democracy
Compiled from news reports
CAIRO ― Cairo's new military leadership on Saturday vowed to pave the way for democracy and abide by its peace treaty with Israel as Egyptians basked in their victory a day after Hosni Mubarak's overthrow.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the current government would remain in place for a peaceful transition to "an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state," though it set no timetable.
The streets and squares of downtown Cairo remained in the hands of the mostly young demonstrators whose determined 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of autocratic rule and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.
But political power now rests with the military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mubarak's departure, and many people are anxiously waiting to see if they will make good on their promise to respect the popular will.
In Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolt, many of the anti-regime protesters who have occupied the city's vast central plaza since Jan. 28 launched a massive cleanup effort with hundreds of volunteers.
"It's party time! We are born again," declared 40-year-old agricultural engineer Osama Saadallah. "We were behind other countries, now we are worth something in the eyes of others, of the Arab world."
Many chose to celebrate the first day of a new era for their country by clearing the detritus of Friday night's mega-party in Tahrir, taking pride in showing the civic spirit in their nation reborn.
In a sign that normal life was returning, state television announced that a curfew in effect since Jan. 28 would be shortened by four hours and the stock exchange was expected to reopen on Wednesday.
Mubarak's final hours: desperate bids to stay
Mubarak was supposed to announce his resignation on Thursday. The Egyptian military expected it. The new head of his ruling party pleaded to him face-to-face to do it. But despite more than two weeks of massive demonstrations by protesters unmoved by lesser concessions, the president still didn't get it.
Mubarak's top aides and family ― including his son Gamal, widely viewed as his intended successor ― told him he could still ride out the turmoil. So the televised resignation speech the rest of Egypt had expected became a stubborn ― and ultimately humiliating ― effort to cling to power. It only enraged protesters. On Friday, the military moved decisively.
On Saturday, insiders in Egypt gave The Associated Press an initial picture of what happened in the hours before Egypt's “unoustable” leader of nearly 30 years fell. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Their account portrayed Mubarak as unable, or unwilling, to grasp that nothing less than his immediate departure would save the country from the chaos generated by the protests that began Jan. 25. A senior government official said Mubarak lacked the political machinery that could give him sound advice about what was happening in the country.
“He did not look beyond what Gamal was telling him, so he was isolated politically,'' said the official. “Every incremental move (by Mubarak) was too little too late.''
The military, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly impatient with the failure of Mubarak and Omar Suleiman, his newly appointed vice president, to end the protests. The unrest spiraled out of control Thursday and Friday, with demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins and even gunbattles engulfing almost the entire nation.