A protester looks at a burnt Egyptian Army armoured vehicle in downtown Cairo January 28, 2011.
WORLD THREATS
Posted by Ryan Mauro on February 10th, 2011
Wow. As we just reported, President Mubarak will step down tonight and Vice President Omar Suleiman will take over. The NBC News report strongly indicates that the military forced him to step aside, as the decision was made after a full day’s worth of meetings by the supreme military council that Mubarak did not attend.
The military commander in charge of Cairo announced to the protestors, “All your demands will be met today.” The Egyptian TV also reported that the supreme council expressed its support “for the legitimate demands of the people.”
This move comes after two days of rioting at the Suez Canal area, which would make the impending economic crisis even worse for Egyptians. Government buildings including the local state security building were set on fire. There are also now labor strikes, which would paralyze the economy. The deployment of the pro-Mubarak thugs that instigated violent clashes with the protestors also probably compelled the military to tell Mubarak that his time is up.
The military has always seen itself as the protector of Egypt, not the bodyguard service of a dictator. And it appears that the military leaders decided that chaos would ensue if they didn’t finally make Mubarak step down. Now the question is how this will affect the uprisings in Jordan and Yemen and whether it will spark more uprisings in the region.
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