07.02.2011
U.S. proposes Mubarak's immediate resignation
CAIRO (Reuters) – The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials the immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak as one of several scenarios for a transition of power, a U.S. official said.
The U.S. move comes after 10 days of anti-government protests in Egypt and ahead of a mass "Day of Departure" rally planned by protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to force Mubarak to quit.
The 82-year-old Egyptian leader, speaking in an interview with ABC on Thursday after bloodshed in Cairo that killed 10 people, said he believed his country still needed him.
"If I resign today, there will be chaos," said Mubarak, who has promised to step down in September. Asked to comment on calls for him to resign, he said: "I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country."
U.S. officials said on Thursday they were talking to Egyptian officials about a variety of ways to move toward a transition of power, including one in which Mubarak leaves office immediately.
"That's one scenario," said a senior Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There are a number of scenarios, but (it is) wrong to suggest we have discussed only one with the Egyptians."
The New York Times earlier said Washington was discussing a proposal for Mubarak to turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military.
The White House would not confirm the Times report but said discussions have been under way with Egyptians in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
The Times also quoted a senior Egyptian official as saying that what Washington was asking for could not be done, citing clauses in the Egyptian Constitution that bar the vice president from assuming power. Under the constitution, the speaker of parliament would succeed the president.
"That's my technical answer," the official added. "My political answer is they should mind their own business."
Moving to defuse an unprecedented challenge to his 30-year-rule, Mubarak appointed Suleiman, a former intelligence chief, as vice-president and offered talks on reforms.
But that has failed to satisfy protesters who are hoping to rally thousands of Egyptians on Friday for a fresh demonstration to try to force Mubarak to quit now.
Protesters in Tahrir (Liberation) Square, which has become the hub of pro-democracy demonstrations, were hoping to be joined by thousands more for a big demonstration they are calling the "Friday of Departure."
Organizers called on people to march from wherever they were toward the square, the state television building and the parliament building -- all within around a mile of one another in the heart of the city.
The U.S. State Department said it expected confrontation in what would be the 11th day of protests.
An estimated 150 people have died in the protests, at least 10 of them in confrontations which erupted in Tahrir Square on Wednesday when pro-Mubarak supporters attacked the protesters.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington believed elements close to the government or Mubarak's ruling party were responsible for the violence which erupted on Wednesday. The Interior Ministry has denied it ordered its agents or officers to attack anti-Mubarak protesters.
GOVERNMENT OFFERS TALKS
In a move to try to calm the disorder, Suleiman said on Thursday the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most organized opposition movement, had been invited to meet with the new government as part of a national dialogue with all parties.
An offer to talk to the banned group would have been unthinkable before protests erupted on January 25, indicating progress made by the reformist movement since then. However, the opposition has refused talks until Mubarak goes.
The United States, which supplies the Egyptian army -- Mubarak's power base -- with about $1.3 billion in aid annually,
is struggling to find a solution to the crisis that does not exacerbate instability in the Arab world's most-populous nation.
Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said President Barack Obama has said now is the time to begin "a peaceful, orderly and meaningful transition, with credible, inclusive negotiations."
The New York Times said the U.S. proposal called for a transitional government to invite members from a broad range of opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to begin work to open up the country's electoral system in an effort to bring about free and fair elections in September.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. Mubarak had also justified his use of emergency rule as needed to curb Islamist militancy in a country where al Qaeda had its ideological roots.
Mubarak described Obama as a very good man, but when asked by ABC if he felt the United States had betrayed him, he said he told the U.S. president: "You don't understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now."
The protests were inspired in part by events in Tunisia, where its leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee last month.
Oil prices have climbed on fears the unrest could spread to affect oil giant Saudi Arabia or interfere with oil supplies from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
(Reporting by Edmund Blair, Samia Nakhoul, Patrick Werr, Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed, Alexander Dziadosz, Yasmine Saleh, Sherine El Madany, Yannis Behrakis, Jonathan Wright, Andrew Hammond, Tom Perry and Alison Williams in Cairo; editing by Sanjeev Miglani and John Chalmers)
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One-fifth of House freshmen bunk in their office
More than one-fifth of House freshman have taken the “bring your work home with you” concept to another level by opting to sleep in their D.C. offices.
But many freshmen feel lucky to sleep at their place of employment. They avoid commuting, rent bills and the responsibility of residence upkeep.
“It’s convenient. I don’t face the traffic,” Republican Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg and Capitol Hill camperCBS News. “I can jokingly tell my constituents I am in my office 24 hours a day for you.”
According to a CBS News, 19 of the 87 new Republicans and 2 of the 9 new Democrats are sleeping in their offices.
Walberg, a 2nd time Republican freshman (he previously served in the House from 2007 to 2009), is a seasoned office bunker. Having slept in his “man cave” office during his previous term in Congress, he keeps an air mattress, a double espresso maker, and a stack of cereal boxes in his office.
“I probably got it as good as a man cave can be,” Walberg said.
Freshmen sleep on couches, rollaway beds, cots, and air mattresses. Their reasons for camping out at the office range from the economic to sending a message about not being part of Washington. Some freshmen seem to live in their offices as an incentive to visit their home districts more frequently.
“The less comfortable he is out in D.C., the more likely he is to get home as often as he can,” said Daniel Son, communications director for Wis. Rep. Sean Duffy.
Other freshmen choose to stay in the office in part so they won’t feel distanced from their jobless or less fortunate constituents.
“So, for those to suggest this is an inconvenience or a hardship, I have a great job, it’s an honor to have this job, and what’s more, I have a wonderful home in Chicago,” Republican Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley said.
Though the sleepers increase the workload for housekeeping staff, there’s nothing in the House rules that forbids house Members from sleeping in their offices.
Some freshmen say hygiene and life balance are at stake for those residing in their offices.
“I can’t see an excuse that you always want to sleep in your office because you always want to work,” Democratic Rep. Rep. Karen Bass told CBS. “You can work from anywhere. So I think it’s a question of balance, and I frankly think it’s a question of hygiene.”
Bass added that she wasn’t surprised that none of the House’s 13 new females chose to bunk in their new offices.
“I can’t see myself showering in the gym every day, no,” Bass said. “I can’t see myself walking through the halls of Congress needing to go shower.”
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Wis. Rep. Sean Duffy’s communications director, Daniel Son.
Read more stories from The Daily Caller
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Ireland gets 3.6 billion euros from rescue fund: source
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ireland has received a first tranche of 3.6 billion euros ($4.9 billion) from the euro zone rescue fund, slightly more than the initial amount agreed, a fund source told Reuters on Sunday.
The effective lending cost to Ireland was 5.9 percent, the source added.
The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) raised 5 billion euros from a debut sale of five-year bonds late last month.
The funds are to be used to help finance the 85 billion euro EU/IMF bailout of Ireland, which followed Greece last year in seeking a rescue to cope with the huge losses of its banking sector.
"As part of the EU/IMF financial support package agreed for Ireland, EFSF transferred 3.6 billion to the Republic of Ireland," an EFSF source said, adding: "Due to the successful issue, the amount transferred to Ireland was higher than the minimum 3.3 billion agreed."
The EFSF has said its Irish programme would include two more benchmark bonds of 3 to 5 billion euros each this year. It plans to issue 17.6 billion euros in 2011 and as much as 4.9 billion euros in 2012.
The EFSF's debut bond sale was done at implied borrowing cost of 2.89 percent.
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by David Holmes)
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