Egypt's Military Supporting Mubarak

Reuters – Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak addresses the nation in this still image taken from video February …

I had a feeling this story would change again. Last night, the news said that Mubarak was stepping down right away, then they later said no.

Here are some parts of the article. They are not in order.

Hopes that Mubarak would resign had been raised Thursday when a council of the military's top generals announced it had stepped in to secure the country, and a senior commander told protesters in Tahrir Square that all their demands would soon be met.


Instead, several hundred thousand people watched in disbelief and anger as Mubarak refused to step down.

Mubarak called the protesters' demands legitimate and promised that September presidential elections — in which he says he will not run — will be "free and fair" with supervision to ensure transparency.

Despite the overwhelming sense of disappointment among the protesters, some noted that Mubarak's immediate resignation would have had unintended consequences. His immediate departure would have triggered presidential elections within 60 days, with most of the restrictions that prevented free voting the past still in place, said Amr Hamzawy, an Egyptian legal expert.

By transferring most powers to Suleiman and initiating constitutional amendments, Mubarak did the maximum possible under the constitution to meet the demands of the protesters, Hamzawy said.
"He went in a direction that is more preferable to open Egyptian politics in the next few months," said Hamzawy.

Egypt's military threw its weight Friday behind President Hosni Mubarak's plan to stay in office through September elections while protesters fanned out to the presidential palace in Cairo and other key symbols of the authoritarian regime in a new push to force the leader to step down immediately.

The statement by the Armed Forces Supreme Council — its second in two days — was a blow to many protesters who had called on the military to take action to push out Mubarak after his latest refusal to step down.

Click title of post for full article.