Feb. 10: In a move that seemed to signal an end to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-rule, crumbling under the pressure of the street, after 17 days of protests threatened to spread to the rest of Cairo, it seemed all too likely that the revolt was going to be hijacked by the country’s powerful armed forces. It was also announced that the beleagured president would address his restive nation amid intense speculation he would step down.
Concerns immediately rose that Egypt’s armed forces, which has so far stayed neutral, could enforce order and quell the people’s movement after it said on Thursday, in an ominous signal, that they were taking “necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people,” a signal that the military intends to take a commanding role in governing the country.
The moves marked a decisive turn in an uprising that has brought hundreds of thousands into the streets in the most sweeping revolt in the country’s history. So far, the military has stayed on the sidelines, but Thursday’s statement suggested it worried that the country was sliding into chaos. The military called the communiqué “the first statement of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,” strongly suggestive that it had taken power.
There was no immediate confirmation that the army intended to formally replace the government named by Mr Mubarak.
But protesters, oblivious of the implications, roared approval at the news that the military was moving to supplant the government they have opposed. Jubilant chants of “The Army and the people in one hand!” could be heard from the Square.