suleiman stepping up — updating — suleiman stepping in place

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Mubarak is meeting with Suleiman right now and will be making a live, not pre-recorded statement tonight... which means today here... they're being very noncommittal about it on AJ, but the expectation is that Mubarak will stand down. I want to remind you that this is NOT what the uprising is about. It is only what Israel and the United States want. I called it for Suleiman almost as soon as he was appointed VP. I wonder who won in the WH/State spat....

We can only hope the protests don't ebb and Suleiman goes the way of Mubarak soon... but then they will have to make it through ElBaradei to get what DC wanted in the first place.

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Letting Indyk open his yap was a sign.

... The U.S. does not want a people's government in Cairo.

Martin Indyk, a former Clinton Administration official at the U.S. National Security Council with an area of responsible for the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and an individual closely tied to the Obama Administration, told The New York Times that the U.S. must work towards bringing the Egyptian military into control of Egypt until a "moderate and legitimate political leadership [can] emerge." Not only did Indyk call for a military takeover in Egypt, he also used U.S. State Department double-speak. What U.S. officials mean by "moderate" are dictatorships and regimes like Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Jordan, Morocco, and Ben Ali's Tunisia. As for legitimacy, in the eyes of U.S. officials, it means individuals who will serve U.S. interests.

As though we really needed one.

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NOON... 10pm in Cairo, Mubarak still has not spoken. News wires say he's resigned and then there was a military coup. So... if true... and that speech is late... Suleiman may have been president for five minutes....

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12:15pm... Truly, the reportage on this has become outright psychedelic over the last twenty minutes. Everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown into it... including "no way is Mubarak stepping down" and all the blather about him staying president but handing powers to Suleiman, and that the military supports Suleiman... so it could damn well be Suleiman and the military are forcing Mubarak out. Speech now fifteen minutes late.

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12:20pm... One significant development is that Egyptian State TV has suddenly been broadcasting the images of the mob celebrating in the square. They have been making it look really small when they haven't been ignoring it altogether throughout the seventeen days of the uprising.

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12:30pm... Speech now half an hour late.

6:00pm: The CIA chief reportedly says there is a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down tonight.

5:39pm: Huge chant, Tahrir Square seemingly in unison, shouting: "The army and the people in one hand - the army and the people are united."

5:35pm: Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reports: "Now, for the first time, we are getting the sense that senior military officers are discussing 'national issues', which is a very significant development indeed."

5:30pm: "Ambiguous" statement from military confirms its “commitment and responsibility to safeguard the people and to protect the interests of the nation, and its duty to protect the riches and assets of the people and of Egypt”. Mentioned the demands of the people are “lawful and legitimate”. Understood the military council met separately from Mubarak.

5:23pm: NDP Secretary General Hossam Badrawi says he expects Mubarak to respond to the demands of the people tonight. An official statement from the military is imminent.

5:20pm: A senior military commander is reported to have told protesters that all their demands will be met, but no official confirmation is yet available.

Still waiting. Muslim Brotherhood says it fears a military coup if Mubarak steps down.

So... you can see, AJ has no clue, and probably neither do any of the other news outlets.

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12:35pm... Crowd now chanting SULEIMAN OUT. They had started to disperse for the day when the military made it's "announcement" and everyone and more came rushing back in. The square is carpeted with people.

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12:45pm... Mubarak speaking, father to children, all the blood of those who fell for a better Egypt will not go to waste. Perpetrators will be punished. Adamant to fulfill all promises. Important to admit mistakes and rectify them. [Doesn't sound like a resignation speech so far.] Will not be dictated to from outside. I announced plainly that I will not run for reëlection. This is the oath I have taken before God and the nation. Will continue to implement the peaceful transition of power. ... [Definitely NOT a resignation speech....]

AJ turning up sounds of crowd griping in background.

Still speaking, but not looking good....

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12:55pm... Crowd is SCREAMING, SCREAMING, SCREAMING, SCREAMING... and Mubarak is still speaking, not even saying, yet, that he is transferring power. People are pissed.

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1:00pm... I think he MIGHT have just said he was transferring power, but it was followed so closely by another jab against being dictated to from outside, I'm not sure. Crowd is PISSED.

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1:05pm... He did not step down OR aside.

THE CROWD HAS GONE BATSHIT CRAZY. OMG!

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1:15pm... Crowd waving shoes in the air. Major expression of contempt.

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1:20pm... Mubarak seems clear this is coming from outside of Egypt, but he seems unclear that it's also being borne up INSIDE the country. There isn't any question in my mind that this was started by covert ops in place to unseat him, but the Egyptian people leapt on it and have died at least in their hundreds for it. So Mubarak's appeal tonight sounds outright psychotic. Can the man really think he can woo the uprising back to his side by expressions of patriotism and reminding them of the outside influence? Now? What planet is he on?

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1:25pm... AJ is saying that Mubarak did say he would delegate more power to Suleiman, but not that he was transferring the powers of the presidency to him. So that would be why I was confused by his words. The crowd wasn't listening at all by then. They were SCREAMING invective and grabbing their shoes to wave.

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1:35pm... Suleiman is speaking now. Mubarak has delegated to him the responsibility of safeguarding the interests of Egypt. Road map for implementation of changes in place. Peaceful transfer. Safeguard the youth revolution. Civilized realization of the demands of the people. We can make this future bright, rife with freedom and democracy. We can't allow perpetrating and plotting against Egypt. Go home and go back to work. Don't listen to the seditious news. We have started work, relying on God and the armed forces. Team spirit. Vows to work for the homeland.

"Boring Vice Torturer"....

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1:45pm...Reporter on AJ says the street reaction is outrage. The military has split into factions over this. Liable to be bloodshed. No longer an organized protest, but a revolution with its own momentum.

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1:55pm... Israel is whining via AJ correspondent. Big surprise, I know.

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2:10pm... Retired military officer telling AJ he can't figure out if Mubarak has transferred any power at all. Hopes to get a better perspective in an hour or two. Says there are about four million people in the streets right now. [After midnight in Cairo.]

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2:25pm... Hundreds of protestors have started marching to the presidential palace in Heliopolis... may grant Mubarak's wish to die on Egyptian soil.

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4:00pm... I just snapped off AJ. I'm left hoping Mrs. Mubarak puts some cyanide in Hosni's bedtime regimen or that the faction that lit out for the palace takes him out, but I can't take listening to this anymore. It just makes me fearful and angry.

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love, 99
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