EGYPTIANS HAVE vowed to stage simultaneous “million man” marches today in Cairo, Alexandria and Mansoura after the authorities cancelled train services to prevent protesters reaching the capital. In response to the pressure being exerted, last night vice-president Omar Suleiman said President Hosni Mubarak had asked him to start talks with all political forces. These would include constitutional and legislative reforms, a key demand of the protesters.
The military, which has deployed heavy armour and troops around Tahrir (Liberation) Square, is expected to try to prevent protesters from delivering their one-word message – “Go” – to President Hosni Mubarak. However, it has pledged not to use force against the people. “Your armed forces, who are aware of the legitimacy of your demands and are keen to assume their responsibility in protecting the nation and the citizens, affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody,” it said.
However, the army faces a major challenge, according to sources, as it has yet to decide how to handle Mr Mubarak’s refusal to leave office. One source observed that all three of the dramatis personae are “cornered”. Mr Mubarak, who is 83, ailing and on his way out, and the 80 million Egyptians have nothing to lose, he said. “But is the army ready to sacrifice itself to save him?”
The source said the plan is to keep the crisis going, squeeze the protesters who have come out each day during the past week to call for Mr Mubarak’s resignation and “tire them out”. But the protests are growing and gaining momentum. The source fears there could be considerable bloodshed tomorrow or later on. “Although there has been some bloodshed in this revolution, there could be much more. You cannot have a revolution without bloodshed. I’m afraid of a massacre.”
Hisham Kassem, publisher and commentator, agrees that the situation is likely to be resolved by army commanders who have to decide where their own interests lie. They have served Mr Mubarak for three decades without questioning his orders, but it is not clear if they are prepared to put “generals in state security [who implemented the crackdown] on trial to protect a single man”. Troops that Mr Kassem met during the protests have told him: “We are soldiers, not butchers.”
Mr Suleiman and premier Ahmad Shafiq, both military men, will have to assume power when Mr Mubarak steps aside, he said. The majority of Egyptians would be prepared to accept Mr Suleiman as someone who could re-establish stability and repair the political and economic damage.