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U.S. presses Mubarak not to run again: report

02 February 2011 00:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to run again in the presidential election scheduled for this fall in the Middle East country, New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing U.S. diplomatic sources, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

The message was conveyed to Mubarak by Frank Wisner, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt. The sources said the message was not a "blunt demand" for Mubarak to step aside now, but "firm counsel that he should make way for a reform process that would culminate in free and fair elections in September to elect a new Egyptian leader," reported the newspaper.

This back channel message, authorized directly by Obama, is so far the clearest signal that the United States is withdrawing support from its long-time ally Mubarak and asking him to step down.

Earlier, Al-Arabiya television, citing unnamed sources, reported that Mubarak would announce in a nationwide address Tuesday evening that he would not run for another term.

But now the biggest question is that if Mubarak announces that he will not run again but insists he finish his term until September, whether the flooding of protesters on the streets across Egypt can be satisfied.

Now, the United States has started to reach out to the opposition in Egypt. U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley confirmed on Twitter Tuesday that U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey had spoken on Tuesday with Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of IAEA and the current opposition leader, as part of U.S. "public outreach to convey support for orderly transition in Egypt."