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Egyptian VP vows changes to appease protesters
Egyptian VP vows changes to appease protesters
By the
CNN Wire Staff
February 6, 2011
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman on Sunday met with representatives of key opposition groups and offered concessions -- including some that, if enacted, could bring dramatic change to the country.
Among the ideas agreed to by the two sides at the meeting, according to a report on state-run television, was a future end to the military emergency law that has been in place since President Hosni Mubarak came to power in 1981.
The two sides also discussed steps to ensure free media and communication and plans to form a series of committees that would oversee changes aimed at bringing about a representative government.
The opposition leaders who met with Suleiman do not represent all the demonstrators who have held mass protests over the past two weeks. One of the groups represented in the meeting was the Muslim Brotherhood -- a group that, days ago, had said it would not negotiate until Mubarak left office. Members of the liberal parties Wafd and Ahrar have also engaged in talks with the newly appointed Suleiman.
After the meeting, Suleiman sat down with six young people who, according to state-run TV, were representing the "January 25" movement, named after the date the protests began.
But in Tahrir Square, some protesters slammed the idea that anyone representing them would meet with Suleiman. "This is an insult to people like us, activists. Who are they to speak on behalf of the revolution?" asked Gigi Ibrahim.
"I did not hear of any January 25 group when the revolution started," added protester Wael Abbas. "Only now I am hearing these rumors. But I don't know who they are because they definitely do not represent us."
Some opposition figures also questioned the government's sincerity in Sunday's meeting, saying the talks and suggestions of possible agreement might be tricks intended to end the demonstrations with Mubarak still in power and security forces situated to prevent them from restarting.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency who has returned as a major opposition figure, told CNN there was "a huge question of credibility" involving the government.
"Mubarak is a symbol of an outgoing regime and people have no credibility," ElBaradei said. "If he doesn't leave, you know, the regime would retrench and then come back, you know, with vengeance."
Mohammed Mursi and Mohamed Saad Al Katatni, both with the Muslim Brotherhood -- an opposition Islamist umbrella group that is officially banned but tolerated in Egypt -- said their party insisted that the closing memo after the meeting note that the two sides agreed to the importance of a peaceful transition by dissolving parliament and what the Muslim Brotherhood calls the parliament's "fraudulent" representation.
The group also insisted on an investigation into the deadly clashes in Tahrir Square last week, and that those responsible be brought to justice in Egyptian courts, the Muslim Brotherhood officials said.
Based on the meeting, the Muslim Brotherhood expects that on March 1, the two sides will take the next steps toward amendments in the constitution and reforming of the parliament, Mursi and Al Katatni said.
The statement on state-run TV said the two sides agreed to form a national committee to work on constitutional changes within a month. They also agreed to reject any foreign interference in Egypt and form a committee from the legal authority and political groups that would work together to suggest needed changes, according to the statement.
Click to read the original at CNN.com
ENDS
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