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Journalism of Courage
The military stepped into Egypts three-week-old uprising Thursday,announcing its support for the pro-democracy protesters thronging the streets. It seemed imminent that President Hosni Mubarak would step down and hand over the bulk of his powers to the Army. Late India time,Egypts state-run Nile TV was announcing that Mubarak would make an address live on air from the presidential palace,but not specifying when.
Many seemed uncomfortable describing the temporary assumption of power by the Army Egypts most respected institution as a coup. The Army has backed the pro-democracy movement from the beginning,and there were scenes of delirious joy in Cairos Tahrir Square,the heart of the revolt,where protesters hugged,kissed and hoisted military officers on their shoulders.
Inside Tahrir,as a senior Army official announced that the demands of the Egyptian people would be met tonight,a roar went up among the tens of thousands of protesters who cheered,The people and the Army are united.
Google executive Wael Ghonim,who has become one of the faces of the uprising,posted on Twitter,Revolution 2.0: Mission Accomplished.
Ghonim had appeared on CNN yesterday,challenging the regime,a tear running down his cheek: Youre not going to stop us. Kidnap me,kidnap all my colleagues. Put us in jail. Kill us. Do whatever you want to do. We are getting back our country.You guys have been ruining this country for 30 years. Enough! Enough! Enough!
US President Barack Obama,speaking around midnight India time at Northern Michigan University in Marquette,Michigan,said,We are witnessing history unfold, wire services reported. America, Obama said,will do everything we can to support a genuine and orderly transition to democracy.
The revolt today spilt from its core at Tahrir to Egypts parliament and near the presidential palace. By late afternoon,the crowd at Tahrir had broken new records. As imminent change swirled in the air,all roads leading to central Cairo were jammed.
Ahead of the militarys formal announcement,its chief of staff,Sami Anan,appeared in the Square,and pledged to safeguard the peoples demands and their security,The New York Times reported. Gen. Hassan al-Roueini,military commander for the Cairo area,told demonstrators,All your demands will be met today, NYT said.
From early evening,state television started running promos about Mubaraks speech,and showed the many faces of the revolution,sprinkled liberally with clips of the Army with happy,cheering people,showing victory signs. Projection TV screens were set up across Tahrir in anticipation of the presidents address,in which he was widely expected to announce he was stepping down,decree constitutional amendments for fair elections and revoke emergency laws.
It was not clear exactly how the transition would happen,though,and whether Vice-President Omar Suleiman would assume any role. A state TV announcement that the information minister had said Mubarak would not resign raised the possibility that the president could stay on,possibly in a ceremonial role. But that was a possibility that the men and women in one of the worlds biggest independence parties in recent decades appeared unlikely to agree to.
