Free Republic

The White House is now openly pushing for replacing Egypt President Hosni Mubarak with a temporary caretaker government that includes the military and is applauding a decision by Mubarak’s son to step down as head of the country’s ruling party. But a senior administration official said those steps weren’t enough - and suggested that Mubarak needs to take “additional steps” to quell the chaos in the streets of Cairo, which is threatening to sink Egypt’s already foundering economy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking to a conference of allies in Munich, Germany, on Saturday, expressed support for a transition effort...

Amid calls for President Hosni Mubarak to not wait until the end of his term to step down, the U.S. special envoy to Egypt told the Munich Security Conference that the 30-year ruler needs to stick around fro now. Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt deployed there this past week to apparently urge Mubarak to hand over the reins, said Saturday that the transition "is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward." Wisner spoke to the conference via video link from New York. "We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next...

Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt who was sent to Cairo earlier this week by President Obama meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said Mubarak “must stay in office” to guide his country through important transitions in the coming months. “You need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward,” Wisner told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “The president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through.” Wisner said he considered Mubarak’s continued leadership in his country “critical.”