Obama envoy told Mubarak time is up; He agreed, he won't run for a Sept Election

Arafat

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Nov 17, 2009
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A special envoy dispatched to Egypt by President Barack Obama told Egyptian President that the U.S. saw his presidency at an end and urged him not to seek another term in office while preparing for an orderly transition to real democracy in elections, American officials said.

The message was delivered to Mubarak by Frank Wisner, a respected former U.S. ambassador to Egypt dispatched to Cairo by Obama amid mounting anti-government protests and demands for the Egyptian leader to step down, according to two officials familiar with the envoy's mission.

The moves signaled that after a week of carefully balancing support for protesters and its close ally of three decades, the U.S. has decided that continued backing for Mubarak as president was untenable.

While the current U.S. envoy to Egypt, Margaret Scobey, spoke with ElBaradei, the escalating anti-government protests led the United States to order non-essential American personnel and their families to leave the country.

"It is not enough for President Mubarak to pledge `fair' elections," Kerry wrote in The New York Times. "The most important step that he can take is to address his nation and declare that neither he nor the son he has been positioning as his successor will run in the presidential election this year. Egyptians have moved beyond his regime, and the best way to avoid unrest turning into upheaval is for President Mubarak to take himself and his family out of the equation."

Hosni Mubarak said he will not run for a new term in office in September elections, but rejected demands that he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on Egypt's soil, in a television address after a dramatic day in which a quarter-million protesters called on him to go.
The 82-year-old Mubarak, who has ruled the country for nearly three decades, insisted that his decision not to run had nothing to do with the unprecedented protests that have shaken Egypt the past week. "I tell you in all sincerity, regardless of the current circumstances, I never intended to be a candidate for another term."

"I will work for the final remaining months of the current term to accomplish the necessary steps for the peaceful transfer of power," he said.
Mubarak, a former air force commander, resolutely vowed not to flee the country. "This dear nation ... is where I lived; I fought for it and defended its soil, sovereignty and interests. On its soil I will die. History will judge me like it did others."


Source: Associated Press (AP)
 
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