US and world wrongfooted by Mubarak as White House tries to keep up

Guardian.co.uk

By refusing to leave office, the Egyptian president has exposed Obama's inability to decisively influence the country

• Ewen MacAskill in Washington
• The Guardian, Friday 11 February 2011
• Article history



 

Obama has been putting pressure on Mubarak since last week to stand down straight away. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA Barack Obama last night ended two weeks of dithering over the Egyptian uprising by issuing a statement expressing disappointment with the refusal of Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, to stand down. In a lengthy statement, Obama was sceptical about the pace and commitment of the Egyptian government towards democracy and added a rebuke, albeit mild, to Mubarak. "The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity," Obama said. His comments reflected dismay elsewhere round the world. The British government said it was looking closely at Mubarak's speech. The White House statement came late last night after Obama was wrongfooted by Mubarak. Both Obama and the CIA director, Leon Panetta, had given the impression earlier in the day that they expected Mubarak to stand down. Obama, who had been on trip to Michigan, watched Mubarak's statement aboard Air Force One and, on landing, rushed to the White House for an unscheduled meeting with his national security advisers. The statement was issued after the meeting. He praised the protesters, aligning the US clearly behind them for the first time: "Those who have exercised their right to peaceful assembly represent the greatness of the Egyptian people, and are broadly representative of Egyptian society." The Obama administration has been putting pressure on Mubarak since last week to stand down straight away, but Mubarak, in what appeared to be a direct snub to the US president, said he would not bow to international pressure. Mubarak's response offers further evidence of the US's slow decline from its status as superpower to a position where it is unable to decisively influence events in Egypt, in spite of that country being one of the biggest recipients of US military aid. The administration has shifted from solidly supporting Mubarak, to suggesting he should go now, only to back him at the weekend to remain in office until the autumn – a decision that secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, reversed hours later when she threw US support behind Suleiman. The foreign secretary, William Hague, issued a statement saying he was studying Mubarak's statement closely. "It is not immediately clear what powers are being handed over and what the full implications are." He called for an urgent but orderly transition to a broader government. Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, said Mubarak's speech "was not the hoped-for step forward". Nicolas Sarkozy expressed hope that Egypt would avoid an Iranian-style revolution: "I hope with all my heart for Egypt's nascent democracy that they take time to create the structures and principles that will help them find the path to democracy and not another form of dictatorship, religious dictatorship, as happened in Iran." Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, expressed disappointment: "Mubarak's speech is far from the needed break with the abusive system of the past 30 years. The US and EU governments should use their influence and their aid to encourage real reform." Robert Springborg, professor of national security affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School, described Mubarak's refusal to leave as "an enormously provocative step". Stephen Grand, a Middle East specialist at Washington's Brookings Institution, said the US must "use all of its leverage to get Mubarak to recognise that he needs to leave", and cast doubt on Suleiman's leadership. "Omar Suleiman has shown that he's not a credible figure," he added. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/10/obama-wrongfooted-mubarak-egypthttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/10/obama-wrongfooted-mubarak-egypt