World Leaders Cheer but Remain Wary
J. DAVID GOODMAN
Across a region that has seen online social networks lead to real-world social upheaval, many officials released their first statements via Twitter.
“Egypt takes the Arab world into a new era. Let’s make it a better one,” Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, wrote on the social networking site. With protests planned for next week in Bahrain, the kingdom also said on Friday it would give cash payments equal to $2,650 to every family, Reuters reported.
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, sounded somewhat of a cautious note after congratulating the Egyptian people on the success of nearly three weeks of protests demanding that Mr. Mubarak step down. “Egypt is a strong state and the continuity of the Egyptian institutions is of crucial importance,” he wrote.
But regional leaders who had feared change in Egypt — a group including other Middle East autocrats — made few public statements on Friday. The Israeli government, which has counted on Egypt as one of its few allies in the Arab world, had not issued a formal statement by evening. By contrast, Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, celebrated the news and called on the new government in Egypt to open its border with the territory.
The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, was one of the few to refer to Mr. Mubarak, albeit indirectly. “I respect what must have been a difficult decision taken in the wider interests of the Egyptian people,” he said in a statement. He said young Egyptians in particular had made their voices heard and would help determine the nation’s future.
And Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, one of the first Western leaders to make a televised public statement, called the situation in Egypt a “precious moment of opportunity” but only a “first step.”
“Those who now run Egypt have a duty to reflect the wishes of the Egyptian people,” he said, which means a “move to civilian and democratic rule.”
Like Mr. Cameron, those who expressed caution about the future appeared to be reacting to the possibility that Mr. Mubarak’s departure did not necessarily mean democratic changes would be made quickly.
Mr. Mubarak handed power over to the country’s well-respected military, which has promised political reforms. But it remains unclear if military leaders will make the types of fundamental changes needed to ensure a true democracy.
In a Twitter statement, Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called the moment “historic,” but added that “the chance for democratic change must be used now.”
Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said at a news conference that by standing down, Mr. Mubarak had “listened to the voices of the Egyptian people and has opened the way to faster and deeper reforms.”
“It is important now that the dialogue is accelerated leading to a broad-based government which will respect the aspirations of, and deliver stability for, the Egyptian people,” she added.
The president of the European Union parliament, Jerzy Buzek, went further, suggesting that the shift in power was not enough to judge the protests’ success. “Europe will measure the next steps in the fulfillment of the people’s demand by repealing the emergency laws and by ending all intimidation of journalists, human rights defenders or political dissidents,” he said Friday, The Associated Press reported.
There were wire reports of celebrations around the region and fireworks in Gaza and Beirut. On the Hezbollah-run television station Al Manar, an Egyptian anchor Amr Nassef cried on the air, The Associated Press reported, quoting him as saying: “Allahu Akbar, the pharaoh is dead. Am I dreaming? I’m afraid to be dreaming.”
Speaking on Friday before news of Mr. Mubarak’s departure had been confirmed, Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, predicted that protesters would eventually prevail. “I think the old expression is: ‘They’re not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube on this one,’” he said, according to Canadian news agencies, urging the new government to “make a bright future happen for the people of Egypt.”
www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/middleeast/12global.html
Feb. 11, 2011