Mubarak arrives in Sharm El-Sheikh
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family have arrived in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula, Al Arabiya television and the Associated Press reported today, without saying where they got the information.
Mubarak left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs and was accompanied by Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Enan (chief of staff of the Egyptian Army), the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, citing an unidentified airport official.
Egyptians today vowed to hold their biggest demonstrations so far during the crisis over the country’s leadership after Mubarak went on national television to defy calls for his immediate resignation. Mubarak (82) reiterated his intention to stay in office, while handing day-to-day powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman in a bid to placate opponents who demand an end to his 30-year rule.
- Hosni Mubarak.
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, is reportedly Mubarak’s new home.
Aside from having a website straight out of 1995, and being the new digs for President Hosni Mubarak, is a popular resort city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate (Egypt).
So what has Mubarak reportedly left Cairo for? Maybe a burger at the Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Hard Rock Cafe’ just sounded really good.
Sharm el-Sheikh features quite a few major hotels such as Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Four Seasons’, Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Marriott’, Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Sheraton’, Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Ritz-Carlton’ and even a Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Holiday Inn’.
Tourists from Egypt, around the region, and the rest of the world visit for Sharm el-Sheikh casinos, diving, long swaths of natural beaches, year-round dry and temperate climate, and discos.
Mubarak reportedly left during or immediately after his speech to the nation last night, which was taped in advance. Anger has flared on the Egyptian streets following the speech.
Mubarak was widely expected to announce he was stepping down Thursday. Instead he said he would transfer some unspecified powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman and remain president until elections in September. As Mubarak’s speech was broadcast, premature victory celebrations among protesters in central Tahrir Square turned to bafflement, dismay, and rage.
Mubarak’s concessions seem like a half-measure (at best) to demonstrators who want nothing less than his complete removal from power. Even the installation of Suleiman is distasteful to many. Suleiman is seen in Egypt and abroad as an establishment figure and close ally not fundamentally different from Mubarak.
The Egyptian military on Friday endorsed Mubarak’s plan to stay in office Friday while protesters fanned out to the presidential palace in Cairo and other key symbols of the authoritarian regime in a new push to force the leader to step down immediately.
The statement by the Armed Forces Supreme Council – its second in two days – was a blow to many protesters who had called on the military to take action to push out Mubarak after his latest refusal to step down.