Egypt ruling party seeks talks with protesters
The Secretary general of Egypt's National Democratic Party Safwat El-Sherif said Thursday that the party is ready to open a dialogue with the youths who have staged three days of antigovernment protests
The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, also called for restraint by the security forces and protesters during a rally planned for after Friday prayers.
However, Mr. el-Sharif, a longtime confidant of Mr. Mubarak, didn't offer any concessions to the protesters demanding the longtime president's ouster nor suggest that steps would be taken to address their complaints about poverty and unemployment. "The minority does not force its will on the majority," he said.
Egyptian activists are staging demonstrations for a third day in the capital Cairo and at least one other city, keeping up the momentum of the largest antigovernment protests in years.
Associated Press reporters saw scores of protesters outside the downtown Cairo offices of Egypt's lawyers' union, which has been one of the flashpoints of this week's unrest calling for the removal of Mr. Mubarak.
About 100 people were also protesting outside police headquarters in the city of Suez east of Cairo, another hot spot.
Meanwhile, Egyptian pro-reform advocate and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei is returning home Thursday to take part in the protests gripping his country.
A spokesman for the pro-reform leader, Abdul-Rahman Samir, said Mr. ElBaradei was expected to join protests planned for after Friday prayers across the country.
Mr. ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has emerged as a prime challenger to Mr. Mubarak's regime since he first returned home last year.
He has created a wave of support from reformists, but insists he wouldn't run in this year's presidential election unless restrictions on who is eligible to contest are lifted and far-reaching political reforms are introduced.
Mr. ElBaradei's homecoming Thursday could provide a much-needed figure for protesters to rally around as they continue to press for change, but there have been persistent questions about the depth of his commitment to bringing change.
Mr. ElBaradei, according to his detractors, spends too much time away from Egypt and may be lacking a thorough understanding of life in Egypt because of the decades he has lived abroad, first as an Egyptian diplomat and later with the U.N.
The unrest of the past two days continued to take its toll on the country's economy Thursday.
Social-networking sites have called for a mass rally in Cairo on Friday, after two days of protests by tens of thousands of people have led to clashes with security forces, leaving at least six people dead and many more wounded. Nearly 900 people are known to have been detained so far.
Egypt's largest and best-organized opposition group Muslim Brotherhood has stated its support for the protests.
In a statement posted on its website, the Brotherhood stressed the need for the protests to remain peaceful and avoided repeating the protesters' calls for an end to Mr. Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule.
Instead, the group called for new parliamentary elections under judicial supervision and the introduction of major political reforms.
This week's protests in Cairo and a string of cities across this Arab nation of some 80 million people were the biggest in years, posing a serious challenge to Mr. Mubarak's authoritarian rule at a time when many Egyptians are complaining of rising prices, unemployment and corruption.
Muslim-Christian tensions are deepening the crisis and Mr. Mubarak's failure to announce whether he would run in this year's election for another six-year term is adding to the uncertainty.
Mr. Mubarak, 82 years old, has never appointed a deputy and is thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him, a father-son succession that is widely opposed and, according to leaked U.S. memos, doesn't meet with the approval of the powerful military.
All of Egypt's four presidents since the end of the monarchy in the 1950s have come from the military.
The Secretary general of Egypt's National Democratic Party Safwat El-Sherif said Thursday that the party is ready to open a dialogue with the youths who have staged three days of antigovernment protests
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| Safwat El-Sherif |
However, Mr. el-Sharif, a longtime confidant of Mr. Mubarak, didn't offer any concessions to the protesters demanding the longtime president's ouster nor suggest that steps would be taken to address their complaints about poverty and unemployment. "The minority does not force its will on the majority," he said.
Egyptian activists are staging demonstrations for a third day in the capital Cairo and at least one other city, keeping up the momentum of the largest antigovernment protests in years.
Associated Press reporters saw scores of protesters outside the downtown Cairo offices of Egypt's lawyers' union, which has been one of the flashpoints of this week's unrest calling for the removal of Mr. Mubarak.
About 100 people were also protesting outside police headquarters in the city of Suez east of Cairo, another hot spot.
Meanwhile, Egyptian pro-reform advocate and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei is returning home Thursday to take part in the protests gripping his country.
A spokesman for the pro-reform leader, Abdul-Rahman Samir, said Mr. ElBaradei was expected to join protests planned for after Friday prayers across the country.
Mr. ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has emerged as a prime challenger to Mr. Mubarak's regime since he first returned home last year.
He has created a wave of support from reformists, but insists he wouldn't run in this year's presidential election unless restrictions on who is eligible to contest are lifted and far-reaching political reforms are introduced.
Mr. ElBaradei's homecoming Thursday could provide a much-needed figure for protesters to rally around as they continue to press for change, but there have been persistent questions about the depth of his commitment to bringing change.
Mr. ElBaradei, according to his detractors, spends too much time away from Egypt and may be lacking a thorough understanding of life in Egypt because of the decades he has lived abroad, first as an Egyptian diplomat and later with the U.N.
The unrest of the past two days continued to take its toll on the country's economy Thursday.
Social-networking sites have called for a mass rally in Cairo on Friday, after two days of protests by tens of thousands of people have led to clashes with security forces, leaving at least six people dead and many more wounded. Nearly 900 people are known to have been detained so far.
Egypt's largest and best-organized opposition group Muslim Brotherhood has stated its support for the protests.
In a statement posted on its website, the Brotherhood stressed the need for the protests to remain peaceful and avoided repeating the protesters' calls for an end to Mr. Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule.
Instead, the group called for new parliamentary elections under judicial supervision and the introduction of major political reforms.
This week's protests in Cairo and a string of cities across this Arab nation of some 80 million people were the biggest in years, posing a serious challenge to Mr. Mubarak's authoritarian rule at a time when many Egyptians are complaining of rising prices, unemployment and corruption.
Muslim-Christian tensions are deepening the crisis and Mr. Mubarak's failure to announce whether he would run in this year's election for another six-year term is adding to the uncertainty.
Mr. Mubarak, 82 years old, has never appointed a deputy and is thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him, a father-son succession that is widely opposed and, according to leaked U.S. memos, doesn't meet with the approval of the powerful military.
All of Egypt's four presidents since the end of the monarchy in the 1950s have come from the military.
