Egypt : New concessions to opposition..[ 2080 ]

Egypt’s regime offers new concessions to opposition

Anti-government protesters sit on and lie inside the tracks of an Egyptian army tank, both to prevent the tank from moving and to shield themselves from the rain, at a protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

By Maggie Michael and Sarah El Deeb

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Associated Press

Updated: 1:46 p.m. on Sunday, February 6, 2011

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt‘s vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and offered new concessions including freedom of the press, release of those detained since anti-government protests began nearly two weeks ago and the eventual lifting of the country’s hated emergency laws.

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Two of the groups that attended the meeting said this was only a first step in a dialogue that has yet to meet their central demand — the immediate ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

“People still want the president to step down,” said Mostafa al-Naggar, a protest organizer and supporter of Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate and one of the country’s leading democracy advocates.

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“The protest continues because there are no guarantees and not all demands have been met,” he added. “We did not sign on to the statement. This is a beginning of a dialogue. We approve the positive things in the statement, but … we are still demanding that the president step down.”

The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group, made a similar statement after its representatives attended the meeting.

 

Anti-Mubarak protesters are seen behind barbed wire as they arrive at Tahrir Square in Cairo on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Vice President Omar Suleiman offered to set up a committee of judicial and political figures to study proposed constitutional reforms that would allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the presidency, the state news agency reported. The committee was given until the first week of March to finish the tasks.

The offer also included a pledge not to harass those participating in anti-government protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands at the biggest rallies. The government agreed not to hamper freedom of press and not to interfere with text messaging and Internet.

The offer to eventually lift emergency laws with a major caveat — when security permits — would fulfill a longtime demand by the opposition. The laws were imposed by Mr. Mubarak when he took office in 1981 and have been in force ever since. They give police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights.

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Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hailed the talks with opposition groups and the promise to remove the emergency law as “frankly quite extraordinary.” Mr. Kerry called on Mr. Mubarak to lay out a timetable for transition and new elections.

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“He must step aside gracefully and begin the process of transition to a caretaker government. I believe that is happening right now,” Mr. Kerry told NBC‘s “Meet the Press.” “What’s needed now is a clarity in this process.”