EGYPT: Neither Hosni Mubarak nor his son will run for president, says Vice President Omar Suleiman
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Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state-run television Thursday that neither President Hosni Mubarak nor his son, Gamal, would run for the presidency in autumn elections.
Suleiman’s reiteration of Mubarak’s pledge to leave office at the end of his current term appeared aimed at pacifying demonstrators still clamoring for the longtime leader to immediately step down.
Mubarak said in an address to the nation Tuesday that he would fill out his current term as head of state, claiming a responsibility to first restore order and stability in the country rocked by what is now a 10-day-old anti-government uprising.
Gamal Mubarak, 46, was seen as being groomed to succeed his father as president, an unwelcome prospect for Egyptians who have despaired of Mubarak’s authoritarian, 30-year rule. The president’s son has not been seen on the leadership fringes during the current crisis.
Protesters again defied an overnight curfew through Thursday, standing their ground in Tahrir Square after a day and night of bloody clashes that left at least five dead, hundreds injured and the historic venue littered with charred vehicles, rocks and other detritus.
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