EGYPT: Vice President Omar Suleiman to discuss transition plan Saturday
Egypt's newly appointed vice president plans to meet a group of prominent figures Saturday to discuss a proposed solution to the country's crisis in which he would assume the president's powers for an interim period, a member of the group said.
Diaa Rashwan told Reuters news agency Friday that he and others had been invited to see Vice President Omar Suleiman, an ex-intelligence chief who has the confidence of Washington, to discuss an article of the constitution allowing President Hosni Mubarak to hand powers to his deputy.
The negotiations could allow Mubarak to stay and serve out his fifth term, but stripped of his powers.
Meanwhile, Egyptian officials announced that they had relaxed the national curfew, which will run from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. instead of 5 p.m. to 7 a.m.
With protesters already breaking the curfew to settle in for another night in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq pledged on state-run television: “We will not use force to disperse the protesters in Tahrir.”
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— Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Photo: Vice President Omar Suleiman (center), is seen in Gaza City in 2005 when he was the Egyptian intelligence chief. Credit: Mohammed Salem / Reuters
