By Ahmed A. Namatalla, Ola Galal and Vivian Salama
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Egyptians poured out of Friday prayer
services and into Cairo's Tahrir Square in the tens of
thousands as last night's fighting gave way to a peaceful mass
protest on what demonstrators called the "day of departure"
for President Hosni Mubarak
The crowd sang the national anthem and chanted slogans
against Mubarak, repeatedly calling the president and his regime
"illegitimate." One held a sign reading: "Game Over." Many
brought their children in a sign of the changed mood after
Mubarak supporters attacked protesters, journalists and
observers yesterday, leaving several dead.
With U.S. President Barack Obama pushing for a faster
transition, Mubarak has replaced ministers and promised free
elections before stepping down in September. That hasn't
assuaged protesters who say his 30 years in power must end now
as unrest spreads to other Arab nations. U.S. and Egyptian
officials held talks on a proposed transitional regime led by
his deputy, Omar Suleiman, to include the banned Muslim
Brotherhood and other opposition groups, the New York Times
said. Germany's Angela Merkel said today may be "decisive."
'Turning Point'
Today "may mark the turning point to see whether this
uprising is going to continue or whether the regime will sort of
be able to wear it down," Michael Hudson, director of the
Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore,
told Bloomberg Television.
At Tahrir, protestors vowed not to back down. "Mubarak is
challenging the will of the people," said Nermeen Khafagui, an
Egyptologist at the national museum, who joined the crowd of
protesters. "We will not start negotiations until Mubarak cedes
power." There were similar anti-regime demonstrations in other
cities including Luxor and Alexandria.
Crude rose 0.3 percent to $90.84 a barrel at 12:20 p.m. in
London, extending its increase since Jan. 27 to almost 6
percent. Dubai's benchmark stock index fell 3.8 percent last
week. Egypt's stock market and banking system have been closed
for a week, shielding the Egyptian pound, which traded at about
5.86 per dollar on Jan. 27.
"Over the short term we expect the Egyptian pound to fall
by 20 percent, which would require the central bank to intervene
on several occasions," said John Sfakianakis, the Riyadh-based
chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi, in a research note
today. He estimated the damage to Egypt's economy from the
crisis as at least $310 million a day and said a transition of
power will probably happen "sooner rather than later."
'Will Be Chaos'
The 82-year-old Egyptian president told ABC television late
yesterday that he feared "there will be chaos" if he abruptly
quits, and warned that the Muslim Brotherhood will come to
power. Obama's administration hasn't publicly repudiated its
longtime ally Mubarak, who has backed efforts to encourage Arab
acceptance of Israel and marginalize the Islamist Hamas movement
in the Gaza Strip. Egypt is one of the biggest recipients of
U.S. aid.
U.S. and Egyptian officials are discussing a plan under
which Suleiman, backed by Lieutenant General Sami Enan, chief of
the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi,
the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of
constitutional reform, the New York Times reported today, citing
unnamed administration officials.
The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a resolution that calls
on Mubarak to immediately begin a "transfer of power to an
inclusive interim caretaker government" before Egypt holds
elections later this year.
'No Retribution'
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former United Nations nuclear chief
and a leader of the opposition, said Mubarak's opponents want
the president to leave with "dignity."
"We are not in any way interested in retribution," he
said at a press conference at his home in Cairo. "The Egyptian
people by their nature are not bloodthirsty."
Journalists and charity workers were targeted by security
forces after clashes broke out yesterday, prompting Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to condemn the actions as "unacceptable
under any circumstances."
Several aid workers were detained in raids on the Hisham
Mubarak Law Center, an Egyptian law firm based in Cairo and
Aswan, including one working for Amnesty International and
another for Human Rights Watch. Egypt has also sought to curb
the flow of information during the crisis, cutting off access to
the Internet and mobile phone services.
At least nine people were killed in the violence over the
past 48 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said
today, citing figures from the Egyptian Ministry of Health. The
ICRC estimates that as many as 2,000 people have been injured
over the past few days.
'Watching World'
The Suez Canal, which carries about 8 percent of global
maritime trade, and the country's main ports were operating
normally today, Egyptian authorities said.
In Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters
before a European Union summit that today's demonstrations will
be "decisive" and called for an "orderly" transition in
Egypt. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said any more violence
against protesters will mean "Egypt and its regime would lose
any remaining credibility or support it has in the eyes of the
watching world."
Other Arab countries gripped by the spreading instability
in the Middle East include Yemen, where police used tear gas
against anti-government protests yesterday, and Jordan, which
sacked its government this week. Algeria's President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika said yesterday that a 19-year-old state of emergency
will be lifted "in the very near future." The protests began
in Tunisia, where President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced
from office last month after two decades in power.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories: TOP <GO>
For Stories on Egypt: NI EGYPT BN <GO>
Egyptian politics: TNI EGYPT POL <GO>
Top political stories: GTOP <GO>
Top Middle East news: TOP GULF <GO>
--With assistance from Mahmoud Kassem, Abdel Latif Wahba and
Maram Mazen in Cairo, Massoud A Derhally in Beirut, and Viola
Gienger, Nicole Gaouette, Jeff Bliss and Roger Runningen in
Washington. Editors: Ben Holland, John Fraher.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo at +202-2-461-8584 or
anamatalla@bloomberg.net;
Vivian Salama in Dubai at +971-2-401-2541 or
vsalama@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Silva at +1-202-624-4312 or msilva34@bloomberg.net
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Egyptians poured out of Friday prayer
services and into Cairo's Tahrir Square in the tens of
thousands as last night's fighting gave way to a peaceful mass
protest on what demonstrators called the "day of departure"
for President Hosni Mubarak
The crowd sang the national anthem and chanted slogans
against Mubarak, repeatedly calling the president and his regime
"illegitimate." One held a sign reading: "Game Over." Many
brought their children in a sign of the changed mood after
Mubarak supporters attacked protesters, journalists and
observers yesterday, leaving several dead.
With U.S. President Barack Obama pushing for a faster
transition, Mubarak has replaced ministers and promised free
elections before stepping down in September. That hasn't
assuaged protesters who say his 30 years in power must end now
as unrest spreads to other Arab nations. U.S. and Egyptian
officials held talks on a proposed transitional regime led by
his deputy, Omar Suleiman, to include the banned Muslim
Brotherhood and other opposition groups, the New York Times
said. Germany's Angela Merkel said today may be "decisive."
'Turning Point'
Today "may mark the turning point to see whether this
uprising is going to continue or whether the regime will sort of
be able to wear it down," Michael Hudson, director of the
Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore,
told Bloomberg Television.
At Tahrir, protestors vowed not to back down. "Mubarak is
challenging the will of the people," said Nermeen Khafagui, an
Egyptologist at the national museum, who joined the crowd of
protesters. "We will not start negotiations until Mubarak cedes
power." There were similar anti-regime demonstrations in other
cities including Luxor and Alexandria.
Crude rose 0.3 percent to $90.84 a barrel at 12:20 p.m. in
London, extending its increase since Jan. 27 to almost 6
percent. Dubai's benchmark stock index fell 3.8 percent last
week. Egypt's stock market and banking system have been closed
for a week, shielding the Egyptian pound, which traded at about
5.86 per dollar on Jan. 27.
"Over the short term we expect the Egyptian pound to fall
by 20 percent, which would require the central bank to intervene
on several occasions," said John Sfakianakis, the Riyadh-based
chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi, in a research note
today. He estimated the damage to Egypt's economy from the
crisis as at least $310 million a day and said a transition of
power will probably happen "sooner rather than later."
'Will Be Chaos'
The 82-year-old Egyptian president told ABC television late
yesterday that he feared "there will be chaos" if he abruptly
quits, and warned that the Muslim Brotherhood will come to
power. Obama's administration hasn't publicly repudiated its
longtime ally Mubarak, who has backed efforts to encourage Arab
acceptance of Israel and marginalize the Islamist Hamas movement
in the Gaza Strip. Egypt is one of the biggest recipients of
U.S. aid.
U.S. and Egyptian officials are discussing a plan under
which Suleiman, backed by Lieutenant General Sami Enan, chief of
the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi,
the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of
constitutional reform, the New York Times reported today, citing
unnamed administration officials.
The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a resolution that calls
on Mubarak to immediately begin a "transfer of power to an
inclusive interim caretaker government" before Egypt holds
elections later this year.
'No Retribution'
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former United Nations nuclear chief
and a leader of the opposition, said Mubarak's opponents want
the president to leave with "dignity."
"We are not in any way interested in retribution," he
said at a press conference at his home in Cairo. "The Egyptian
people by their nature are not bloodthirsty."
Journalists and charity workers were targeted by security
forces after clashes broke out yesterday, prompting Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to condemn the actions as "unacceptable
under any circumstances."
Several aid workers were detained in raids on the Hisham
Mubarak Law Center, an Egyptian law firm based in Cairo and
Aswan, including one working for Amnesty International and
another for Human Rights Watch. Egypt has also sought to curb
the flow of information during the crisis, cutting off access to
the Internet and mobile phone services.
At least nine people were killed in the violence over the
past 48 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said
today, citing figures from the Egyptian Ministry of Health. The
ICRC estimates that as many as 2,000 people have been injured
over the past few days.
'Watching World'
The Suez Canal, which carries about 8 percent of global
maritime trade, and the country's main ports were operating
normally today, Egyptian authorities said.
In Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters
before a European Union summit that today's demonstrations will
be "decisive" and called for an "orderly" transition in
Egypt. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said any more violence
against protesters will mean "Egypt and its regime would lose
any remaining credibility or support it has in the eyes of the
watching world."
Other Arab countries gripped by the spreading instability
in the Middle East include Yemen, where police used tear gas
against anti-government protests yesterday, and Jordan, which
sacked its government this week. Algeria's President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika said yesterday that a 19-year-old state of emergency
will be lifted "in the very near future." The protests began
in Tunisia, where President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced
from office last month after two decades in power.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories: TOP <GO>
For Stories on Egypt: NI EGYPT BN <GO>
Egyptian politics: TNI EGYPT POL <GO>
Top political stories: GTOP <GO>
Top Middle East news: TOP GULF <GO>
--With assistance from Mahmoud Kassem, Abdel Latif Wahba and
Maram Mazen in Cairo, Massoud A Derhally in Beirut, and Viola
Gienger, Nicole Gaouette, Jeff Bliss and Roger Runningen in
Washington. Editors: Ben Holland, John Fraher.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo at +202-2-461-8584 or
anamatalla@bloomberg.net;
Vivian Salama in Dubai at +971-2-401-2541 or
vsalama@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Silva at +1-202-624-4312 or msilva34@bloomberg.net
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