Egypt locked in standoff

An anti-government protester leads chants against President Hosni Mubarak in front of soldiers guarding the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square on February 5, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Thousands of the demonstrators continue to occupy the square, demanding Mubarak's immediate resignation. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt remains locked in a political standoff Saturday with anti-government protesters demanding the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak but the leader refuses to step down.

Tens of thousands of anti-Mubarak demonstrators gathered in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square Saturday, the 12th day of their protests which have largely closed down ordinary business across the country.

But Egypt's prime minister took steps to return the country to normal and suggested that a resolution to the crisis can be reached without the immediate removal of Mubarak.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on state TV that the government may be able to ride out protests and reach a deal with its opponents without Mubarak's ouster.

A defiant Shafiq said a 100,000-strong demonstration Friday failed to force Mubarak out as protesters hoped. "We haven't been affected and God willing next Friday we won't be affected," he said. "All this leads to stability."

The prime minister met with leaders of the anti-government protests to ease President Hosni Mubarak out of office, according to local reports. But the talks have reached a stalemate over the issue of Mubarak’s departure.

International leaders added to pressure on Mubarak in efforts to find a resolution to Egypt’s crisis.

"The status quo is simply not sustainable," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a security conference in Munich Saturday, referring not only to the situation in Egypt but in the wider Middle East.

"President Mubarak has announced he will not stand for reelection nor will his son ... He has given a clear message to his government to lead and support this process of transition," said Clinton to a security conference in Munich where world leaders will discuss how to proceed.

"That is what the government has said it is trying to do, that is what we are supporting, and hope to see it move as orderly but as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances," said Clinton, according to Reuters.

In another sign of continuing chaos, a gas pipeline in northern Egypt suffered an explosion and was shut down overnight, disrupting flows to Israel and also to Jordan, where protesters angered by economic hardship have been demanding a more democratic political system. Many reports blame saboteurs for an explosion that shut the pipeline, but officials at Egypt's natural gas company say that the pipeline blast was caused by a leak.

Mubarak, who has reshuffled his government but refused to resign, met some of the new ministers on Saturday, the state news agency said, in a clear rebuff to the hundreds of thousands of people who have demanded the 82-year-old leader step down.

Trade Minister Samiha Fawzi said after the meeting that exports from Egypt were down 6 percent in January due to the unrest and curfew in the country. Authorities were providing extra food supplies to avoid shortages, she said.

Leaders of Egypt's unprecedented wave of anti-government protests have held talks with the prime minister over ways to ease President Hosni Mubarak out of office. Under one proposal, the 82-year-old leader would hand his powers to his vice president, though not his title immediately, to give him a dignified exit.

Mubarak has staunchly refused to leave, insisting on serving out the rest of his term until September, and his aides have repeatedly said in recent days that the country's leader of nearly 30 years must not be dumped in a humiliating way.

The protesters, in turn, say they will not stop their giant rallies or enter substantive negotiations on democratic reform until Mubarak quits.

Thousands continued to gather Saturday in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, a day after some 100,000 protesters massed there demanding Mubarak leave power immediately.

A few blocks from Tahrir Square, volunteer doctors are running an emergency medical clinic to care for injured demonstrators.

Raad Abbas Mohamed waits impatiently on a dusty carpet lying on the floor of the mosque-turned-hospital. Blood seeps through a white bandage wrapped around his head, and his toes are covered in wet plaster from a fresh cast on his right foot.

After being pelted with chunks of brick during a massive street fight with pro-government protesters earlier this week, Mohamed limps when he tries to walk.

Still, he is ready to go back out into the battle.

“I feel like a hero. Like someone who has served my

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/110205/egypts-standoff-continues