Afghan Government Says

Prisoner Directed Attacks

By ROD NORDLAND
One reporter asked him if all
and SHARIFULLAH SAHAK
the students at the madrasa were
KABUL, Afghanistan A cell recruited. "No, they just picked
of suicide bombers active in Ka- and chose among us," Mr. Mahbul was run for three years by a madullah said.
"You mean they just picked the
Taliban commander operating
from the city's main prison, Af- stupid ones," an Afghan reporter
said, to laughter.
ghan officials said Thursday.
"Yes, only the fools like these
Another suicide bomber cell recruited young men from religious two," Mr. Mashal said.
The second would-be suicide
schools, and got them high on a
drug that made them enraptured bomber, Lal Mohammad Khan,
by the handlers who were trying 20, from Spinbaldak in Kandahar
to persuade them to commit may- Province, was also recruited at a
madrasa, in Chaman, just across
hem.
Those were among the high-. the Pakistani border. He was less
lights of an extraordinary news garrulous than Mr. Mahmadulconference held on Thursday by lah, despite Mr. Mashal's effort to
Afghanistan's intelligence serv- prod him into talking. "I want to
ice, the National Directorate of go home and surrender myself to
Security. It was meant to expose my family," he said.
the workings of the two cells, but
When an Afghan reporter from
raised nearly as many questions the Voice of America asked him,
as it answered.
"People say you should be
Not least of these was how hanged as a lesson to others,
Talib Jan, the jailed Taliban com- what do you say?" Mr. Khan just
mander, was able to run his net- hung his head,
work from Pul-e-Charkhi, a maxiMr. Mahmadullah was more
mum security prison in Kabul, forthcoming.
which is staffed by Afghan police
He described in great detail the )
and military officials with Ameri- final days of his training, in which
can trainers and advisers.
"From inside the Pul-e-Charkhi prison he was appointing people and giving them targets and
instructions: do this, and do
that," said a National Directorate
of Security spokesman, Lutfullah
Mashal.
"Most of the terrorist and suicide attacks in Kabul . were
planned from inside this prison
by this man," he asserted.
Mr. Mashal played a videotaped confession of Mr. Jan admitting as much, and saying that
he had organized the suicide
bombing of the Finest Supermarket in Kabul on Jan. 28, which
killed 14 people. His confederate,
Mohammed Khan, who was said
MUSADEQ SADEQ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
to have visited Mr. Jan in prison
to take his orders, confessed in Mohammed Khan confessed
person at the news conference to to a role in a January attack.
his part in the bombing.
There was no way to independently verify the confessions. Con- he was taught how to make a suifessions obtained by coercion or cide vest, with sticks of TNT intorture are common in Afghani- terwoven with Primacord a
stan. A request to interview the detonating cord with high explowould-be suicide bombers was sives and with one strand of
the cord extending down his right
turned down.
The authorities' investigation sleeve to a button to be held in his
of that case led them to a second wrist. The National Directorate
suicide bomb cell, this one with of Security then raided the cell's
eight bombers being readied to safe house and arrested them.
"When we were arrested, we
attack American bases in Kabul
and Logar Provinces. Five of its were very happy," he said.
members, including a safe house "Thank God for N.D.S. my life
operator, a transporter and two has been rescued: It is only beyouthful would-be bombers, con- cause of God and N.D.S. that I
fessed to their roles at the news have survived; otherwise I would
be dead-by now."
conference.
In the case of Mr. Jan, who Wits
Both cells. the authorities said,
were pan of the Haqqant net- said to have run his s ciae
work, a grahlan-albed 'group bomber-cell from
,
the deputy director of security at
based in Pakistan.
The two would-be bombers, that prison, Gen. Mohammad
both Afghans, one 20 and the oth- Ibrahim Rahmani, reached by
er 17, said they had been recruit- telephone, was unsurprised by
ed from madrasas, religious the claims.
While prisoners are allowed
schools where their families had
sent them to study in Pakistan's visitors and phone calls three
tribal areas, where extremists days a week, they are supposed
to be monitored by guards. Genare active.
Mahmadullah, the 17-year-old, eral Rahmani noted, however,
from Logar Province, related his that Mr. Jan had briefly escaped
recruitment at a madrasa in from the prison a year ago, but
Miram Shah, in the North Waziri- was recaptured. Related to that
stan region of Pakistan. He said escape, 18 prison officers, one of
he and three other recruits were them a colonel, were arrested .on
given a succession of injections in suspicion of corruption and takboth arms of a drug that was red, ing bribes from detainees. Genbut of unknown composition. eral Rahmani said all 18 were
"Whenever .we got these injec- themselves now prisoners there.
Separately, a district governor
tions, whatever they said we felt
happy and loved, to hear what was killed by a Taliban suicide
they said, loved to listen to them, bomber in northern Kunduz
and swore we would do whatever Province on Thursday, a day after the governor of the province
they said to do."
What followed was a succes- publicly boasted that Kunduz had
sion of trips from one mullah to been completely cleared of insuranother in Pakistan, where they gents.
The bomber detonated a suiwere shown Taliban propaganda
videos of fights with Americans, cide vest at the office of the disin between religious indoctrina- trict governor of Chardara, Abdul
tion featuring long recitations Wahid Omar Khail, killing him
from the Koran, Mr. Mahmadul- and six others, according to Gen.
lah said. Like many Afghans, he Abdul Rahman Aqtash, the depuhas only one name.
'
ty police chief of Kunduz Province.
A spokesman for the Taliban,
An Afghan employee of The New
York Times contributed reporting Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack.
from Kunduz.

Dozens Killed at Pakistan Army School

By JANE PERLEZ
year-old boy, chose the morning
MARDAN, Pakistan A teen- parade lineup to inflict maximum
age suicide bomber walked onto casualties, an army colonel said.
the parade ground of a major mil- He was dressed in the uniform of
itary training school in northwest a civilian school near the military
Pakistan on Thursday and blew academy compound.
"The boy, dressed in the
himself up, killing 27 cadets, offischool's uniform, walked up to
cials said.
The attack at the Punjab Regi- the training center and blew himmental Center in Mardan was the self up," said the colonel, who desecond by militants against the dined to be fdentified.
The complex is one of the bigschool in the last three years.
The attacker on Thursday, a 15- gest training centers for the Pakistani Army.
In addition to the 27 dead, more
than 40 cadets were injured, acNames of the Dead
cording to local police officials.
The army training center is
The Department of Deeasily accessible on a main road
fense has identified 1,461
in Mardan, one of the busiest citAmerican service members
ies in northwest Pakistan.
who have died as a part of
The Pakistani Taliban attacked
the Afghan war and related
the army's headquarters in Raoperations. It confirmed the
walpindi in 2009, and militants
death of the following Amerhave continued to target military
ican on Thursday:
and police installations.
CARSE, Nathan B., 32, SpecialThe attack came. as the Pakiist, Army; Harrod, Ohio; Secstani Army has asserted that ft
ond Engineer Battalion, 176th
has made major inroads into milEngineer Brigade.
itant strongholds in the tribal
areas close to Mardan.

And now there is Ms. Martin's the police. The coca ne an oxye ugus u c ove
"You know, I'm this notorious driver's identity, the police infa- Busch was a student in Tucson,
Ntachelor who always wanted mously bent down to change Mr. he flipped his Corvette after leav- death on Dec. 19. According to codone were in containers bear- 10 years."

sat

zi
An ExCLA. Agent, State Secrets, and a Family Sickened at a Covert Facility
Suspicious of a cover-up, Mr. C.I.A. into mediation. Mr. Shipp's Washington, who has representgas shell:'
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
The Shipps soon began to get Shipp said he sent samples from memoir includes a December ed many intelligence officials in
ay WASHINGTON In many 'One time me and my
sick. First, they got nosebleeds, the house to a scientist at Texas 2003 settlement agreement lawsuits against the government,
ways, the personal injury lawsuit
then developed symptoms that Tech University. His manuscript signed by a government counsel and Jonathan Turley, a George
iboked routine: In late 2001, a ii
little brother dug up a doctors
said resembled H.I.V. in- includes a Texas Tech report under which the family would Washington University law pro-government employee and his
fection or exposure to radiation, showing that the samples tested be bpaid $400,000 and would have fessor who has filed several lawTamily sued the agency he mustard gas shell:
suits challenging claims of executo stay silent about the matter.
family members said. Eventually, positive for toxic mold.
, worked for, saying it had placed
But two days later, he said, one tive secrecy.
Kevin Shipp said, he discovered
Eventually, the Shipps sued the
them in a mold-contaminated
Mr. Blackmun and Mr. Zaid
that the house was full of a C.I.A. using pseudonyms. Mean- of his attorneys, Clint Blackmun,
r tome that made them sick and bleeds, strange rashes, vomiting, spreading black substance.
while, Mr. Shipp was transferred called him to say that the govern- confirmed that Mr. Shipp had
required nearly all their posses- severe asthma and memory loss.
Camp Stanley has a troubled to the agency's headquarters, ment had withdrawn the settle- been a client, but they declined to
-sions to be destroyed.
Citing a confidentiality agree- environmental record. In August
ment. The case would be fought discuss any sealed lawsuit. Mr.
IA, But this was no ordinary case. ment he signed with the govern- 2001, according to local news re- where he became a polygraph out in court.
Turley confirmed that he had
-The employee, Kevin M. Shipp, ment, Mr. Shipp would not dis- ports, military officials began dis- tester. But his relationship with
The case was already sealed, been asked to consult on the case,
,was a veteran Central Intelli- cuss where the secret facility was tributing bottled water to resi- the agency was deteriorating,
and the Justice Department in- but said he was never given dea
tgence Agency officer. His home located, what its purpose was, dents nearby after it was discov- and the family began to suspect, yoked the State Secrets Privilege tails about it.
was at Camp Stanley, an Army which agency he worked for or ered that toxins from the camp that they had been placed under a judicially created doctrine
Mr. Shipp has moved to Florida
weapons depot just north of San what his duties were.
that the government has increas- and tried to rebuild his life. But
had polluted an aquifer in the surveillance.
Mr.
Shipp
said
he
quit
in
2002

Antonio, in an area where the

tingly used to win the dismissal of angry at what had happened to
Still, he said, he was free to say area, contaminating the drinking
after
he
was
accused
of
using
a
drinking water was polluted with that he worked at C.I.A. head- water.
lawsuits related to national secu- his family, he says he has decided
work
credit
card
to
pay
for
pertoxic chemicals. The post in- quarters in Langley, Va., both berity, shielding its actions from ju- to go public, no matter the risk of
The Shipps said they were
eludes a secret C.I.A. facility.
talking about a sealed case.
fore and after his stint at the facil- twice evacuated from the house sonal expenses; he says he paid dicial review.
the
money
back,
but
had
been
Declaring that its need to pro- ity. And public documents from a after expressing concern about
"I decided to just sacrifice myA federal judge dismissed the

which

,tect state secrets outweighed the separate lawsuit,

he filed
their sudden health troubles. But, told by a supervisor to use the case, and an appeals court in self for the public to know what
Shipps' right to a day in court, against his insurance carrier Kevin Shipp said, his supervisor card for clothes and lodging after New Orleans, in a secret ruling, they did, how illegal it was, how
the government persuaded a over a claim for his family's de- played down the problems, de- his family had to leave the house later upheld that dismissal, Mr. flawed the State Secrets Prividge to order the family and stroyed belongings, make clear Glaring that the house was fine af- and their old clothes were de- Shipp said. Mr. Shipp's manu- lege is, and how they used it to
eir lawyers not to discuss the that he was stationed at Camp ter its air was tested although stroyed.
script mentions several other cover up the destruction of my
case, and to seal the case and disA federal judge overseeing the lawyers who helped him in the family," he said. "It's just abomithe windows and doors were
Stanley.
miss !he lawsuit without Any
case ordered the family and the case, including Mark Zaid, of nable what they did."
Lore
(
PI
"
11".1"1".
Mr.
Shipp's
ex-wile,
hearing on the merits, MI Shipp
shill), ;mil one of his sons, .lor1
agseia.
More than halt it decade later, Shipp, said in interviews that the
C
Mr. Shipp is going public with his C.I.A.
had assigned Mr. Shipp to a
story. He contends that the high-ranking job at the facility to
events broke up his marriage and uncover suspected security
destroyed his career, and that breaches. The family moved to an
C.I.A. officials abused the State Army-owned house at Camp
Secrets Privilege doctrine in an Stanley in June 1999 and left in
effort to cover up their own negli- May 2001.
It is not clear what took place
gence.
Jennifer Youngblood, a C.I.A. at the C.I.A. facility. But the camp
any had been used as a weapons despokeswoman,
denied
wrongdoing by the agency. "The pot for generations. Joel and LoC.I.A. takes great care to help rena Shipp described bunkers
protect the health and welfare of and many old weapons, including
Soviet weaponry. They also said
its employees," she said.
Mr. Shipp recently completed a they occasionally saw officials
memoir filled with unclassified performing tactical drills, and
documents that he said backed that sometimes items were
up his assertions. He says that he burned or buried there.
"The house that our family was
submitted the manuscript to the
agency for the required prepubli- moved into was planted on top of
cation review but that it blacked a lot of buried ammunition," Joel
out swaths of information, like Shipp said. "One time me and my
accounts of his children's nose- little brother dug up a mustard
I

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

A10

REGION IN REVOLT
11

6."

s" re

MOISES SAMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

AROUND 5 P.M. THURSDAY The military

ABOUT 5:30 P.M. The new leader

of the ruling party, Hossam

announces in a communique that it will
Badrawi, tells the media that
meet the protesters' demands. Sami Hafez
he urged President Hosni
Enan, the armed forces chief of staff, and
Mubarak to step down. He
Hassan al-Roueini, (pictured above) Cairo
district military chief, appear in Tahrir Square said Mr. Mubarak appeared to
accept his call to transfer
and echo the message Of the communique.
power to the vice president.
The crowd responds with roars of approval.

ABOUT 6 P.M. Leon

ABOUT 6:30 P.M. The

Associated Press
Panetta, the C.I.A.
director, appearing at issues a news alert
that Mr. Mubarak
a Congressional
panel, says there was will give a speech
a "strong likeli- hood" to the nation in the
evening, heightenthat Mr. Mubarak
ing speculation.
would step down.

DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS

ASMAA WAGUIH/REUTERS

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

ABOUT 8 P.M. In

another news
alert: Anas
El-Fekky,, the
iinformat ion
minister, denies
that Mr. Mubarak
will step down.

ABOUT 8:40 P.M.

President
Obama, speaking
at an event in
Michigan, says
"we are watching
history unfold."

ABOUT 10 RM.

Mohamed
El-Baradei,
an opposition
leader, says
in a tweet,
"We are
almost there."

ABOUT 10:45 RM.

ABOUT 11:00 RM.

Mr. Mubarak
delivers a
17-minute
address in which
he says he will
not resign.

Protesters in Tahrir
Square who are
listening to Mr.
Mubarak's speech
shout in defiance
and hold up shoes,
an Arab insult.

G.O.P. Leaders
Yield to a Push
For More Cuts
By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON House Republican leaders said Thursday

that they would accede to demands from conservatives and
dig deeper into the federal budget for billions of dollars in additional savings this year, exhibiting the power of the Tea Party
increasing
and
movement
chances of a major fiscal clash
with Democrats.
In response to complaints from
rank-and-file Republicans that
the party was not fulfilling a campaign promise to roll back domestic spending this year by $100
billion, the chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee said
his panel would abandon its initial plan and draw up a new one
to slice spending more aggressively.
"Our intent is to make deep but
manageable cuts in nearly every
area of government, leaving no
stone unturned and allowing no
agency or program to be held sacred," Representative Harold
Rogers, the Kentucky Republican
who leads the committee, said. ."
The reversal was the most concrete demonstration yet that the
wave of fiscal conservatives who
catapulted Republicans into the
House majority is reshaping the
political and policy calculations
Continued on Page A3

G.O.P. Leaders Promise to Push for More Budget Cuts

From Page Al
being made by the party leadership. It highlighted the challenges Republican leaders face as
they try to enact a spending plan
for the balance of this fiscal year
before a March 4 deadline, and
portends further clashes as Congress turns to battles over raising
the federal debt ceiling and
adopting a budget for next year.
Senate Democrats, who will
have to negotiate with their Republican counterparts in the
House, quickly criticized the
plan, accusing Republicans of
slashing too deeply into programs like community law enforcement while refusing to end
subsidies to powerful allies like
the oil industry.
"In many cases, these proposals may mean taking workers off
the assembly line, or taking
DREW ANGERER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
teachers out of the classroom, or
police off our streets," Senator "You're going to see more spending cuts come out of this Congress than in any Congress in the
Harry Reid, the Nevada Demo- history of this country," Speaker John A. Boehner said after Thursday's budget announcements.
crat and majority leader, said.
"After all, you can lose a lot of
party
meeting dent Obama. The deeper cuts will ground, there will not be ground
weight by cutting off your arms closed-door
and legs," he added. "But no doc- Wednesday, Mr. Rogers and his make reaching that compromise this good to fight on again," said
fellow Appropriations Committee more difficult, though they could Representative Steve King, Retor would recommend it."
The $100 billion goal set by the leaders say they now intend to provide Speaker John A. Boehner publican of Iowa. He said he was
House Republicans as they provide new cuts that would of Ohio added leverage in future inclined to oppose any measure if
sought to defeat Democrats in meet the target of eliminating negotiations by showing the the health care law was spared.
The widening division between
November was to come from re- $100 billion from Mr. Obama's re- pressure he is under from the
right, forcing Democrats to make House Republicans and Senate
quests from the Obama adminis- quest in "one fell swoop."
Democrats raises the prospect
tration for the 2011 fiscal year,
Republican leaders signaled some concessions.
After a Thursday night meet- that they will be unable to reach
which began Oct. 1. Some of those that they now intended to seek
ing to rally House Republicans, agreement to finance the governrequests were significant inparty leaders said lawmakers ment through Sept. 30 and will increases that were never enacted,
were coalescing behind the new stead have to rely on a series of
so the cuts being sought by Replan even though some of the brief extensions. In the event of a
publicans may still fall short of An indication of the
cuts could be politically trouble- total impasse, the government
the $100 billion target though
some.
could shut down as it did in 1995.
they would be far-reaching in the growing power of the
"We are going to take some
Republican officials would not
domestic programs that would
Tea Party movement tough steps, but I think the Amer- divulge details of their planned
absorb the brunt of them.
ican people expect it," said Rep- cuts. But previous disclosures by
The initial Republican plan
resentative Kevin McCarthy of the Appropriations Committee
called for $35 billion in cuts for
California, the No. 3 House Re- showed the reductions would
the balance of this year, which
has more than seven months yet about $25 billion in additional publican, who credited newly reach deep into energy, environto run. Republican leaders had cuts over the balance of the fiscal elected Republicans for pushing mental, education, transportasaid that figure was equivalent to Year. That would bring their total to wring out more savings.
tion, and housing programs and
Even with added cuts, the totally eliminate more than 60
about $74 billion in cuts had they proposed reductions to more
been applied to the full fiscal than $60 billion, a level that even budget plan is unlikely to satisfy other federal initiatives.
year, measured against the budg- some Republicans have warned all Republicans. Some want even
Republicans were hoping to
et request made last year by the would be disruptive to govern- deeper reductions and others are approve the plan next week. But
ment services.
insisting that any budget bill bar the struggle by the AppropriaObama administration.
The change was a significant the government from spending tions Committee to identify addiBut that argument rang hollow
to many conservative Republi- complication for the new House money to carry out the new tional cuts could throw off the
cans who did not relish the idea leadership, which had hoped that health care law a provision timetable, delaying a vote and
of explaining to constituents why their original proposal would certain to be summarily rejected pushing a showdown with the
the new majority was coming up mollify their membership while by Senate Democrats and the Senate closer to the March 4 exshort of the pledge. After Repub- setting the stage for a compro- White House.
piration of the current spending
licans challenged the plan in a mise with the Senate and Presi"If we don't fight on this law.

THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Hospitals Shift
Smoking Bans
To Smoker Ban
By A. G. SULZBERGER
Smokers now face another risk
from their habit: it could cost
them a shot at a job.
More hospitals and medical
businesses in many states are
adopting strict policies that make
smoking a reason to turn away
job applicants, saying they want
to increase worker productivity,
reduce health care costs and encourage healthier living.
The policies reflect a frustration that softer efforts like banning smoking on company N
grounds, offering cessation programs and increasing health care
premiums for smokers have
not been powerful-enough incentives to quit.
The new rules essentially treat
cigarettes like an illegal narcotic.
Applications now explicitly warn
of "tobacco-free hiring," job seekers must submit to urine tests for hc
nicotine and new employees he
caught smoking face termination. YE
This shift from smoke-free dr
to smoker-free workplaces has th
prompted sharp debate, even fu
among anti-tobacco groups, over sli
whether the policies establish a ea
troubling precedent of employers On
intruding into private lives to ban hu
a habit that is legal.
CO
"If enough of these companies
adopt theses policies and it really en
Continued on Page A3
ha

Hospitals Move From Smoking Ban to Smoker Ban

From Page Al
becomes difficult for smokers to
find jobs, there are going to be
consequences," said Dr. Michael
Siegel, a professor at the Boston
University School of Public
Health, who has written about
the trend. "Unemployment is also
bad for health."
Smokers have been turned
away from jobs in the past
prompting more than half the
states to pass laws rejecting bans
on smokers but the recent
growth in the number of companies adopting no-smoker rules
has been driven by a surge of interest among health care providers, according to academics, human resources experts and antitobacco advocates.
There is no reliable data on
how many businesses have
adopted such policies. But people
tracking the issue say there are
enough examples to suggest the
policies are becoming more
mainstream, and in some states
courts have upheld the legality of
refusing to employ smokers.
For example, hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts,
Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee and Texas, among others, stopped hiring smokers in
the last year and more are openly
considering the option.
"We've had a number of inquiries over the last 6 to 12,
months about how to do this?"
said Paul Terpeluk, a director at
the Cleveland Clinic, which
stopped hiring smokers in 2007
and has championed the policy.
"The trend line is getting pretty
steep, and I'd guess that in the
next few years you'd see a lot of
major hospitals go this way."
A number of these organizations have justified the new policies as advancing their institutional missions of promoting personal well-being and finding
ways to reduce the growth in
health care costs.
About 1 in 5 Americans still
smoke, and smoking remains the
leading cause of preventable
deaths. And employees who
smoke cost, on average, $3,391
more a year each for health care
and lost productivity, according
to federal estimates.
"We felt it was unfair for employees who maintained healthy
lifestyles to have to subsidize
those who do not?" Steven C. Bjelich, chief executive of St. Francis
Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., which stopped hiring
smokers last month. "Essentially
that's what happens."
Two decades ago after large

STEVE HEBERT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mandy Carroll, a student at the University of Kansas School of Nursing, just outside the campus.
lumbia passed laws, with the smoking?' said Lewis Maltby, otherwise qualified essentially
strong backing of the tobacco lob- president of the Workrights Insti- punishes an addiction that is far
by and the American Civil Liber- tute, who has lobbied vigorously more likely to afflict a janitor
ties Union, that prohibit discrimi- against the practice. "The num- than a surgeon. (Indeed, of the
nation against smokers or those ber of things that we all do pri- first 14 applicants rejected since
who use "lawful products." Some vately that have negative impact the policy went into effect in Ocof those states, like Missouri, on our health is endless. If it's not tober at the University Medical
make an exception for health smoking, it's beer. If it's not beer, Center in El Paso, Tex., one was
care organizations.
it's cheeseburgers. And what applying to be a nurse and the
A spokesman for Philip Morris about your sex life?"
rest for support positions.)
said the company was no longer
Many companies add their own
"We want to be very supportactively working on the issue, wrinkle to the smoking ban. ive of smokers, and the best thing
though it remained strongly op- Some even prohibit nicotine we can do is help them quit, not
posed to the policies.
patches. Some companies test condition employment on whethMeghan Finegan, a spokes- urine for traces of nicotine, while er they quit?' said Ellen Vargyas,
woman for the Service Employ- others operate on the honor sys- chief counsel for the American
tem.
Legacy Foundation. "Smokers
While most of the companies are not the enemy?'
applied their rules only to new
Taking a drag of her cigarette
Health hazards, and
employees, a few eventually outside the University of Kansas
,
mandated that existing employ- School of Nursin g, just beyond
now a potential risk to ees
must quit smoking or lose the sign warning that smoking is
their jobs. There is also disagree- prohibited on campus, Mandy
employment.
ment over whether to fire em- Carroll explained that she was
ployees who are caught smoking well aware of the potential conseafter they are hired. The Truman
quences of her pack-a-day habit:
Mecaenters,
di
l
C
here
in
Kansas
K
ees International Union, which
both her parents died of smokingCity,for
example,
will
investigate
represents 1.2 million health care
related illnesses. But Ms. Carroll,
workers, said the issue was "not accusations of tobacco use bya 26-year-old nursing student,
employees. In one recent case a
on our radar yet?'
said she opposed any effort by
One concern voiced by groups new
returned
a hospitals
smoke
to
"discriminate"
lunchemployee
break smelling
of from
like the National Workrights In- and, when confronted by his su- against her and other smokers.
stitute is that such policies are a pe .sor, admitted that he had
"OtAiously we know the efslippery slope S that if they been smoking, said Marcos fects of smoking, we see it every
prove successful in driving down DeLeon, head of human re- daY m the hnsPital: Ms- Carroll
health care costs, employers sources for the hospint The eimE aid. "It's a stupid choice, but it's
might be emboldened to crack pkuee was fneds
choice."
..-,
Even nansinis
down on other behavior by their
. do not mind the stria
*._
workers, like drinking alcohol. ban Irma et
i Sasaa,a, said be
_
-,
eating fast food and participial's magius
, slagkir sae than

am- awn 46:

in risky hobbies hie male sessia se
min bededdied so
riding. The head of the Oevelliod sway mg gie arm Bids et_ apply kfor a jab at tie Cleadad
companies like _MaskavAirhnes.
a 11$110, aillt-lirc SIMOkerS, Clinic, helisnig Pedents.
alfritig S owif&orft
.
_.....
:to reduce nearty three pears aga.
Union Pacific and "Rimer Br,,a1/-4tcasting adopted such policies
29 states and the District of CoAlain Delaqueriere contributed
research.

terview two years ago that, were smoking.

It turned out to be the motivait not illegal, he would expand the
But the American Legacy tion he needed: he passed the
hospital policy to refuse employ- Foundation, an antismoking non- urine test and has not had a cigament to obese people.
profit group, has warned that re- rette since. "It's a good idea." Mr.
- There is nothing unique about fusing to hire smokers who are Stinson said.

I
I

In a Teeming Tahrir Square, Hopes Mount, and Then Are Dashed

not believe that the president will
CAIRO Hours before the step down." Everyone shared his
president's speech, through dark, relief, and no one was worried
downtown streets, groups of about what came next.
"He leaves, and then we think;'
young men and women stepped
over the rocks of recent battles said Mina George, 31.
"And then we choose:' his
and walked toward the lights in
brother Mario added.
Tahrir Square.
It all seemed unbelievable and
They wore their country's colors on headbands, lanyards and it turned out that it was.
At first, there was serenity, as
T-shirts and arrived to a celebration already begun. Popcorn was hundreds of thousands of people
sold, dates were passed around stopped chanting and talking and
and a voice of the uprising, the moving. At 10:45 p.m., President
Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hosni Mubarak started to speak,
Hafez, floated from a loudspeak- a tinny version of his voice leaker.
ing from speakers like the
Two men scaled lampposts, scratchy audio from a newsreel.
risking death to hang a martyr's
For many of the protesters his
picture.
words were hard to hear. Near
Other men hammered at a one stage in the square, people
pulled out cellphones and banded
in knots, as relatives on the other
end of the phones piped in the
speech from their televisions. At
4 I cannot believe this
another stage, a young man in a
day has already
black jacket held up a tiny radio
to a microphone.
come, a protester
Soon, the protesters were
shaking their heads. Then they
said. It hadn't.
started to groan or curse, calling
Mr. Mubarak a donkey. Static
filled the speakers at critical mowooden roof, a semipermanent ments, as when the president
addition to a tent city. Lashed to tried to explain that he was translight posts were loudspeakers, so ferring power to his vice presithat the crowds could hear the dent.
news. Surrounded by the archiIt was clear what had haptecture of their struggle, the pro- pened. Before the speech was
testers waited for their reward.
over, chanting filled the square.
Dozens of men from Sinai, who
"Leave! Leave! Leave!"
had camped in the square for two
With no reason to cheer, or
weeks, smiled as they talked even exhale, people shuffled
about finally going back home. around the square, frowning or
Another man, with a cast on his arguing with one another. Many
arm from the battle of the stones, said Mr. Mubarak's speech had
said he would finally tell his wife been a ploy to divide the protest
where he had disappeared to on movement by peeling off those
Jan. 28, when he ran into a pro- who thought the president had
test and never looked back.
offered his opponents enough.
"I cannot believe this day has Other people said the coming
already come," said Amr Gala, an days would be violent.
accountant, about 8 p.m. "I canA group of young men, desperBy KAREEM FAHIM

The mood changed

swiftly as protesters,
above, listened to Mr.
Mubarak announce that
he would not step down
immediately. The elated
crowd soon grew angry.
Out came the shoes, a
symbol of deep disrespect, as the demonstrators made their feelings
about Mr. Mubarak and
his decision clear.

YANNIS BEHRAKIS/REUTERS

ate for answers, surrounded Amr

Hamzawy, who belongs to a
group that was mediating between the protesters and the government. Were there any guarantees that the president would
honor his pledges, one man
asked?
Their only guarantee would
come from sitting in the square,
Mr. Hamzawy said.
"He is stubborn, and he doesn't
want to be brought to account,"
said Yasmin Fawzi, 24, looking
stunned. "If he doesn't step
down, these people won't leave."
Some of the protest organizers
wept after the speech. "Now
more people are going to die,"
said Sally Moore, one of 14 leaders of the youth movements at
Tahrir. "Mubarak wants to provoke us so that we march on the
presidential palace and he can
shoot us."
Anger turned to festivity much
later in the night, as thousands
poured past the concrete barriers
to demonstrate and set up
camp in front of the Stalinist
state television headquarters, an
imposing circular tower on the
Nile that looks like a fortress
even when not protected by
tanks.
"We must surround all the
symbols of state power and choke
them off," said Alaa Abdel Fattah,
a blogger and activist.
A 20-year-old musician
brought a drum to keep the
chants in rhythm. Men and women made beds out of blankets and
sheets on the corniche overlooking the Nile.
Mr. Mubarak's speech had energized them.
"Yes, we are disappointed:"
said Ahmed Amesh, a veterinarian. "It's strange, now people are
asking for more. Instead of asking for his resignation, they're
asking for the president to be
prosecuted and put to death."

Asetu Rork Zino

In China, Tentative Steps to Making the Renminbi a Global Currency

In China, Tentative Steps Toward a Global Currency

it

t,

ts

YM YIK/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

less expensive than taking out a loan in An exchange in Hong Kong. China's currency is used in some international deals.
China or raising the money in dollars and
then converting those dollars into renminbi. The bonds were issued to help finance land, some cross-border trades with China ment has permitted an overseas branch of
Caterpillar's equipment leasing business in can now be settled in renminbi, so that Bank of China to accept deposits in renminChina.
trading partners do not have to convert in bi. That enables depositors outside China
"This was a successful issue," Mr. Lavin and out of dollars. One pilot program lets to bet on a currency that is widely expected
said. "Before, we were funding our opera- Russian companies like Sportmaster, a re- to appreciate against the dollar over the
tions by bringing in dollars and changing tail chain based in Moscow, buy or sell next few years.
them to RMB."
goods using Chinese currency.
"This is all encouraging the internationMeanwhile, in Russia, Vietnam and ThaiAnd in New York, the Chinese governContinued on Page 4

:1111/0

4cwg,
.ttatt,

From First Business Page

By DAVID BARBOZA

SHANGHAI Now that it has passed

Japan to become the world's second-largest economy after the United States, China
is considering the next step as a world power: making its money a global currency.
No one expects that to happen immediately. And even the Chinese government is
wary of making some of the free-market
moves that would enable the renminbi to
take its place alongside the dollar, euro and
Japanese yen as a fully convertible reserve
currency.
Still, over the last year Beijing has begun
to gradually loosen its tight currency controls. For the first time, for example, American companies like McDonald's and Caterpillar have been allowed to finance their
China projects by selling renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong.
Richard Lavin, a group president at Caterpillar, said his company's $150 million
Hong Kong offering last November was

M/

alization of the renminbi," Kelvin

Lau, an economist at Standard
Chartered Bank who is based in
Hong Kong, said of Beijing's recent moves. "They want to make
the Chinese currency a popular
currency."
At Thursday's exchange rates,
renminbi were trading just below
6.59 to the United States dollar
a level that many experts say values the Chinese currency artificially low, as a result of Beijing's
intervention efforts. Five years
ago, the renmimbi was trading at
slightly more than 8 to the dollar
more than 20 percent higher
than now.
Beyond mere bragging rights,
China has economic motives for
trying to go global with the renminbi. Analysts say the moves, if
successful, could strengthen China's influence in overseas financial markets and begin to erode
the dollar's dominance. Beijing
could also eventually reap the rewards, like cheaper debt financing, that come with being recognized as a world reserve currency.
Global investors eager to bet
on China's growth story, meanwhile, could find that looser controls on the renminbi make it easier to invest directly in bonds and
,
other assets denominated in renty,;tv
KEVIN LEE/BLOOMBEK4 NEWS
minbi.
And importers and exporters American companies that do business in China, like McDonald's, have financed local projects by selling bonds in renminbi.
could reduce their currency-fluctuation risks by settling Chinaexchange rates also leads to com- its own currency.
related trade deals in renminbi as the world's leading reserve and out of the country.
"This is a striking change,"
Economists say these restric- plex market distortions that anacurrency. For one thing, China
rather than dollars or euros.
Robert A. Mundell, a Nobel needs to assure investors that its tions allow Beijing to manage lysts say force Beijing to accumu- Professor Prasad said. "But this
laureate economist whose re- political system is stable and that some say manipulate the ren- late huge foreign exchange re- is all conditional on whether they
search is credited with helping its economy still has plenty of minbi exchange rate, keeping the serves much of them in the can reform their own financial
develop the euro, says the ren- growth ahead. For all its rapid currency undervalued enough to form of American Treasury markets. They know that if they
growth over the last 30 years, bolster exports. The policies also bonds. As long as China contin- open and their financial markets
minbi's rise is all but inevitable.
"The RMB is likely to become China remains relatively poor restrict the amount of capital that ues tightly linking the renminbi are not ready, it could lead to a
a reserve currency in the future, compared with the United States, can enter the country or exit in to the dollar, analysts say, the disaster."
People's Bank of China is effecthe event of a sudden downturn.
If Beijing is not willing to take
even if the government of China the Europe Union or Japan.
China has been reluctant to tively outsourcing the nation's the steps necessary for making
As an influence on global finandoes nothing about it," Professor
Mundell said in an e-mail re- cial markets, the renminbi is make its currency fully convert- monetary policy to the United the renminbi fully convertible,
sponse to questions. He noted "still a distant, distant, distant ible because its banks and finan- States Federal Reserve. And as many analysts doubt whether
that the renminbi was already a fourth," said Albert Keidel, a Chi- cial system are still immature. the value of the dollar has China can internationalize its
regional currency in Southeast na specialist at the Public Policy What is more, allowing money to dropped in recent years, Beijing currency in the coming years.
Asia, where China had become Institute at Georgetown Univer- flow in and out of the country has begun complaining that the
"They're in uncharted territothe dominant trading partner of sity in Washington. "People are with few restrictions would ef- United States' soaring budget ry," says Nicholas R. Lardy, an
going to start holding more ren- fectively mean surrendering con- deficits are eroding the value of
many countries.
If China does eventually open minbi, but it will be at least a dec- trol over vital aspects of the China's huge dollar-denominated economist
and China
specialist
at
the
Peterson
Institute
for
Interholdings.
its capital market by eliminating ade or two for it to become a lead- state-run banking system.
Eswar S. Prasad, a professor of national Economics in WashingBut analysts say Beijing may
currency exchange controls, he ing world reserve currency?'
China is the world's largest ex- eventually be forced to change its economics at Cornell University ton. "But this is how China does
said, "the progress of the RMB as
an international currency will be porter and one of the biggest des- approach because its self-im- and the former head of the In- everything. They experiment
tinations for foreign direct invest- posed financial restrictions leave ternational Monetary Fund's Chi- around the edges. You might look
assured?'
But analysts caution that right ment, but the Chinese govern- the door to international markets na division, says these concerns back 10 years from now and say it
now the renminbi is far from ment still maintains strict control only half open for China, under- are pushing China to step up its was the opening wedge in a
own efforts to reduce its reliance transformation. Or it could be a
ready to mount a serious chal- over its currency and banking mining its global ambitions.
China's tight management of on the dollar and internationalize flop."
,anon tem th. T Trsitori Qtattac rinnar cuctpm and the flow of money in

A4

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

International
Ole eNettl Rork alto

India and Pakistan Agree to Resume Talks Derailed by 2008 Terrorist Attacks
By LYDIA POLGREEN

NEW DELHI India and Pakistan

An effort to address a
announced Thursday that they would
variety of problems, most
resume peace talks that had been
stalled since 2008, when Pakistani milmade worse by the
itants staged coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Kashmir dispute.
The agreement, announced by both
governments, followed meetings on
Sunday between the foreign secretaries
But Thursday's announcement made
of India and Pakistan. It appeared to set
no mention of those issues, leading anathe stage for high-level, open-ended
lysts here to conclude that India detalks on a variety of contentious issues
cided it was better to engage Pakistan
like counterterrorism and improving
without preconditions.
economic relations.
Indian hard-liners have argued that
The renewal of talks is likely to be
India must not begin talks with Pakiwelcomed by the United States, which
stan unless the Pakistanis take visible
has been eager to ease tensions besteps against terrorist groups that
tween the two countries so that Pakithreaten India.
stan can divert troops from its border
But others, including India's prime
with India to its frontier with Afghanistan and aid the American fight against minister, Manmohan Singh, who was
born before the partition of India in a
Taliban insurgents.
part of Punjab that is now in Pakistan,
India had previously balked at rehave argued that avoiding dialogue is
starting talks unless Pakistan demonfolly.
strated that it was cracking down on
"I think the prime minister genuinely
terrorist groups within its borders and
wants to give it a last shot," said Amiaggressively prosecuting the planners
tabh Mattoo, a professor of strategic afof the Mumbai attacks, which left at
least 163 people dead.
fairs at Jawarharlal Nehru University.

have waged an insurgency inside India

aimed at breaking the province away.
Pakistan was created when Britain
partitioned colonial India in 1947, and
the two countries have fought three
wars since then, two of them over Kashmir. They have also clashed over water
rights, trade and even a barren chunk of
glacier high in the Himalayas. The talks
are expected to address less contentious issues before moving on to Kashmir.
The Pakistan-India peace talks were
initiated in early 2004, after the armies
of the nuclear-armed neighbors nearly
went to war in 2001, but the talks were
abruptly terminated in the wake of the
Mumbai attacks.
Secret talks in 2007 came close to resolving some of the most difficult issues,
ADREES LATIF/REUTERS
including the status of Kashmir. But
Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna of India, left, and his Pakistani counterpart,
at
they
thelapsed
time as the president of Pakistan
Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have worked to renew a dialogue.
, Pervez Musharraf, lost his
grip on power, and the attacks the fol"He has been able to convince the esreview the progress of the discussions,
lowing year plunged relations into their
tablishment that a policy of nonengagewhich will include meetings focused on
worst freeze since 2001.
ment has not delivered."
defusing tensions over the disputed borThe Mumbai attackers belonged to a
der region of Kashmir. Each side holds a terrorist group whose main aim was to
As part of the agreement, Pakistan's
foreign minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahportion of Kashmir but claims the entire
take over the Indian-controlled portion
mood Qureshi, will visit India in July to
region, and Pakistan-based militants
of Kashmir.

Investigations
Of Trafficking
Put Surgeon
In Spotlight
By DOREEN CARVAJAL
ISTANBUL For a surgeon wanted
by Interpol and suspected of harvesting
human organs for an international
black-market trafficking ring, Dr. Yusuf
Sonmez was remarkably relaxed as he
sipped Turkish red wine in a bustling
kebab restaurant facing the windwhipped Sea of Marmara.
Dr. Sonmez, refreshed from a ski trip
to Austria, spoke last month while on a
break from business trips to Israel and
operations on cancer patients here.
He boasts about the results of his kidney transplant operations, more than
2,400 by his count. He keeps friends
(and, incidentally, investigators) up to
date on his life via a blog and Web site.
And in his seaside villa on the Asian,:,side of Istanbul, he treasures a framed
copy of a signed letter in 2003 from the
Ministry of Health in Israel commending him for his life-saving aid to "hundreds of Israeli patients who are suffering from kidney diseases and awaiting transplants!'
Yet Interpol is circulating an international red-alert notice for the Turkish
surgeon's arrest, with a mug shot of him
in a surgical scrub cap. The Turkish authorities have shut down his private

09i ,
hospital. And an expert who monitors
CAROLYN DRAKE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
the lurid and lucrative global trade in
human organs says Dr. Sonmez has
"Up to now, I didn't kill anybody. I didn't harm anybody, counting donors or recipients. This is the main thing that I am proud of.""
been arrested at least six times in Turkey.
DR. YUSUF SONMEZ
"There are two Yusufs: one my famA Turkish doctor under investigation in organ-trafficking cases
ily and friends know, and the one created in the press who is a monster this
prominent local doctors, have been
organs were transplanted into wealthy
donor and recipient side by side for 48
had not performed a kidney transplant
is a drama, a tragedy," said Dr. Sonmez,
charged with illegal kidney transplants
patients from Canada, Germany, Poland
hours.
in two months, since an operation in a
53, a trim, angular man with intense
in a private clinic. Dr. Sonmez has not
and Israel who paid up to $122,000. '
"This is amazing," Dr. Sonmez said of
country he declined to identify.
gray-green eyes and a graying goatee.
been charged in Kosovo, but the prosDr. Sonmez has been detained and rethe transplant process. "I love it to
The surgeon's travails in Kosovo be"Up to now, I didn't kill anybody. I
ecution
contends
that
he
played
a
cenleased repeatedly in Istanbul during inwatch the changes with the new organ,
gan after Yilman Altun, 23, a Turkish
didn't harm anybody, counting donors
tral role in the ring.
vestigations of illegal transplants and
the changes in the body, to move with
man, collapsed while waiting for a flight
or recipients. This is the main thing that
That case has become intertwined money exchanges between donors and the changes, to make changes in the out of Kosovo in November 2008. CusI am proud of!"
with a volatile two-year Council of Eurecipients.
medication."
toms officials found a fresh scar in an
Of his surgical skills, he added, wryly,
rope inquiry that made links between
The son of an English teacher and a
arc across his abdomen, and both Mr.
Typically, he said, he requires donors
"I am the best in the world as long as
Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci,
dentist, he said he trained at an Istanbul
and recipients to submit signed, nota- Altun and a 74-year-old Israeli, Bezalel
my fingers aren't broken."
and a criminal enterprise of some formedical school and studied transplant
Shafron who paid $122,000 for a kidThe illicit trade in human organs is a
rized statements to declare that money
mer Kosovo Liberation Army fighters
ney transplant identified Dr. Sonmez
surgery in Paris. He said the five-year
has not been exchanged.
multimillion-dollar business built on
accused of executing Serbian prisoners
as taking part in the surgery.
survival rate for his kidney transplant
paying desperately poor people to exHow does he know that desperately
in 1999 and 2000 for their organs.
patients was 84.7 percent, above WestUnable to operate his own hospital
tract their organs mostly kidneys.
poor kidney donors are not being exDr. Sonmez has denied wrongdoing in em standards, though it was not clear ploited by a murky world of brokers and
shut after the Turkish authorities acThese organs are then sold and transeither situation. Investigators have focused it of illegal transplant operations
planted to wealthier people facing long
how many of the donors he had seen
wealthy donors with lavish insurance?
cused on his role in 2008 as a surgeon
in 2007, an action he is appealing Dr.
waits on government-approved lists for
again.
"I don't need to ask these questions,"
legal transplants.
Sonmez said he was invited by a Kosovo
for the Medicus private clinic in a runBy his estimate, most of the thouhe said, "because I do believe that peourology professor to work at Medicus. A
down neighborhood in Pristina, KosoDr. Sonmez is wanted in regard to one
sands of transplants he has performed
ple have their own authority over their
document from the Kosovo Ministry of
of the most troubling prosecutions to
vo's capital, where they said kidneys
since 1992 involved live, unrelated doown body. They are not stealing, they
emerge recently: a European Union in- were removed from impoverished im- nors. He said his survival rate was high
are not cheating. So this is the shame of Health gave him a temporary appointment in 2008 as a general surgeon, with
vestigation into organ-trafficking in
migrants recruited on false promises of
because he presided over the removal
the system. Not their shame."
Kosovo in which seven people, mostly payment that they never received. The and transplant of kidneys, monitoring
Given his legal problems, he said he
Continued on Page A9

Trafficking Cases Put Surgeon in Spotlight

ganization of almost 50 nations Kosovo during the earlier period
that investigates human rights is- and said he would never transtkie condition that the clinic ob- sues adopted the report of a plant a kidney he had not retwo-year inquiry that alleges that moved himself.
twin a license, which it lacked.
Others contend that Dr. SonAccording to the charges, at during Kosovo's war of independleast 20 kidney operations were ence from Serbia in the late 1990s mez has played a major part in
pgrformed at the clinic, including some members of the Kosovo the globalization of trade in huthose involving Mr. Altun and Mr. Liberation Army held Serb pris- man kidneys, particularly for
Shafron. Dr. Sonmez said he took oners in detention centers in Al- matching paid donors with papart simply as an adviser for the bania and executed them with tients from Israel, where for religunshots to the head to extract gious reasons there is a shortage
men's transplant surgery.
of kidney donors and where
"I was standing there among
health insurance plans pay for
the other physicians," he said,
transplants abroad.
adding that he left the 'clinic after
"I have covered his trac
two days. He argued that he A transplant
said Nancy Scheper-Hughes, a ,
would have stayed until the papecialist denies he is professor of medical anthropolotients were discharged if they s.
gy at the University of California
had been his responsibility.
involved in the illicit
at Berkeley and director of OrBut in a district court in Pristigans Watch, which researches
na in December, a European Unthe organ trade. "He is a transion prosecutor, Jonathan Ratel,
plant surgeon who has worked
cpntended that Dr. Sonmez had
for years in many parts of the
played a central role in transworld with brokers who bring toplants that took place in 2008, organs for shipment to Istan u
gether donors with recipients. He
The
report,
based
on
intellialong with 11 other suspects.
is wanted in many countries, and
gence
reports
and
witness
interit The court is expected to decide
he knows what he is doing is illeau,
am:,
views,
contends
that
there
is
a
spon on whether to press forward
With a trial against the seven peo- link between that ring and Med- g In the next few weeks, Dr. Sonple charged so far in the case, in
mez and his lawyer are poised to
channels
and
people
doing
surgiwhich investigators say foreignhead to Kosovo to give his stateers were lured to Pristina with cal operations. The report, pre- ments.
false promises of payments for pared by a Swiss senator, Dick
"They want information about
Marty,
contends
that
the
earlier
their kidneys.
bigger fish," said Murat Sofuoglu,
In recent weeks, the Medicus case is tied to the Pristina clinic an old friend and lawyer for Mr.
ckinic case has become linked "through prominent Kosovar Al- Sonmez.
with the much more explosive or- banian and international person"Not me," Dr. Sonmez said,
alities who feature as co-conspir- picking at a honey-drenched
gan-trafficking case.
piece of baklava. "I am not the
The Parliamentary Assembly ators in both."
Dr. Sonmez denied being in big fish."
of the Council of Europe an orFrom Page A4

Iran Presses
Opposition
To Refrain
From Rally
By WILLIAM YONG

ES

e
g

n
e

y
a
it

TEHRAN Iran's authorities

have increased pressure on the
country's political opposition
days before a rally proposed by
bpposition leaders in support of
the popular uprisings in Tunisia
and Egypt.
riot'
Security forces stationed out- ?fib
side the home of the reformist Mit
cleric Mehdi Karroubi, one of the r
country's most prominent opposition leaders, prevented Mr.
Karroubi's son from seeing his father on Thursday, according to
the son, Hossein.
In an interview with an Arabiclanguage news Web site, Al Arabiya, Hossein Karroubi, who is
politically active, said that the security forces told him that other
family members, except his et'
mother, were also barred from J,JITI
seeing his father. .
woo
The elder Mr. Karroubi and an ;q t
other government critic, Mir ):35,1
Hussein Moussavi, had submitted a formal request to the
government to hold the rally on
Feb. 14. Opposition Web sites 101
have also reported the arrest of a
number of people associated with 'Ail
the two opposition leaders. On ma
Wednesday night, Taghi Rahmani, an activist close to Mr. Karroubi, and Mohammad-Hossein
Sharifzadegan, a former welfare
minister and an adviser to Mr.
Moussavi, were arrested at their
homes by Iran's security forces.
The Web sites also reported
Thursday that two reformist journal/A.5 had been arrested.
On Wednesday, Iran's top prosecutor, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi, said that the request to
hold a demonstration separate
from the annual governmentsponsored rally to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolu- msa
tion, scheduled for Friday, was m
poi
"political" and "divisive!'
"Setting a different date means
that these individuals are separating themselves from the people and creating divisions," Mr.
Mohseni-Ejehi said in comments
reported in the semiofficial news
agency ILNA, referring to the opposition leaders who called for
the rally. Iran has expressed official support for the antigovernment movements in Egypt and
Tunisia, but supporters of Iran's
opposition criticize that stance as
hypocritical, given the government's brutal suppression of Iranian protesters who took to the
streets after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinej ad in 2009.
"If they are not going to allow
their own people to protest, it
goes against everything they are
saying, and all they are doing to
welcome the protests in Egypt,"
Mr. Karroubi said in an interview
with The New York Times earlier
this week via an online video link.
The last opposition protests "j
against the elections were held 'fill
more than a year ago and were Ai
halted after the government
crackdown killed scores and left
many government critics imprisoned.
Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting from the United Nations.

no military background, but he

was widely discussed as a possible successor to his father, to
the distress of military and secuBy SCOTT SHANE
ing: "Egypt will explode. Army legitimate demands of the peority officials.
must save the country now."
ple." So it came as a shock when
and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
"Suleiman hates Gamal," Mr.
Andrew
McGregor
of
the
Mr.
Mubarak
said
he
was
not
McGregor said.
WASHINGTON Even as
Jamestown
Foundation,
a
Washstepping
down.
In the personnel changes Mr.
pro-democracy demonstrations
in
ton
research
center,
said
that
The
military
has
been
an
anMubarak announced days into
in Cairo have riveted the world's
the
military
was
caught
between
chor
of
Egypt's
authoritarian
the protests, the prime minister,
attention for 17 days, the Egyp/, 4'
Mr.
Mubarak
and
the
protesters,
government
for
nearly
60
years.
Ahmed Nazif was replaced by the
tian military has managed the
and
that
it
was
hard
to
predict
It
helped
usher
Mr.
Mubarak,
a
former commander of the air
crisis with seeming finesse, winhow
officers
might
react.
"For
former
air
force
chief,
into
office
force, Ahmed Shafiq. The defense
ning over street protesters, quithe
first
time,
I
think
there's
the
after
the
assassination
of
Anwar
minister, Mr. Tantawi, was given
,,
etly consolidating its domination
possibility
of
a
split
in
the
milel-Sadat
in
1981.
But
under
Mr.
the additional title of deputy
of top government posts and
sidelining potential rivals for itary," said Mr. McGregor, author Mubarak's rule, its role in Egypprime minister while remaining
leadership, notably President of "A Military History of Modern tian politics has been reduced,
commander in chief of the armed
Egypt."
with the separate domestic secuforces.
Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal.
The
protesters'
hopes
soared
rity
services
playing
the
role
of
"This is a security cabinet put
Then came Thursday, a roller
coaster of a day on which the mil- Thursday afternoon, when the political enforcer. Many top milin place by Mubarak," said MiSCOTT NELSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
chief
of
staff
of
the
armed
forces,
itary
officers
have
kept
busy
chele Dunne, an expert on Egypt
itary at first appeared to be movLt.
Gen.
Sami
Hafez
Enan,
visited
overseeing
the
military
indusSoldiers
in
Tahrir
Square
on
Thursday
kept
an
eye
on
both
the
at
the Carnegie Endowment for
ing to usher Mr. Mubarak from
International Peace. "He fired all
the scene and then watched Tahrir Square in Cairo and sug- tries that represent an estimated crowd and President Hosni Mubarak's televised speech.
5
to
15
percent
of
the
economy.
the economic reform people and
with the world as Mr. Mubarak
Assuming military leaders
clung to his title, delegating some
went along with it, the decision to minister, who were trained by said Michael Wahid Hanna, an brought in others who are securipowers to Omar Suleiman, the
analyst with the Century Founda- ty minded."
leave Mr. Suleiman in place sug- the Soviet Union.
Now the military finds itself in
vice president and former long- A standoff poses a
American
officials
said
Gention,
a
research
organization,
gests no irreversible commitan unfamiliar role, caught Betime intelligence chief.
Enan
had
offered
them
aswho
has
been
in
Cairo
during
the
new
dilemma
for
ment to move toward democracy.
tween swelling protests and civilThe standoff between the prosurances
that
the
armed
forces
crisis.
"Their
business
interests
Even in recent days, Mr. Suleiian leaders who appear reluctant
test leaders and Mr. Mubarak, commanders.
man has suggested that the coun- would defend Egyptian institu- are vast," he said, and include to cede real power.
hours before major demonstratry is not ready for democracy dons, not individuals, and that benefits like officers clubs and a
Mr. Hanna, of the Century
tions set for Friday, could pose a
and
that
the
emergency
rule
they
would
not
open
fire
on
civilboat
on
the
Nile
for
the
air
force.
Foundation, said the military had
new quandary for military comAfter the protests began Jan. no training in policing the streets
manders. Mr. Suleiman called for gested that their demands would should not be ended yet, a point ians. Defense Secretary Robert
an end to demonstrations, and soon be met. He also presided Mr. Mubarak echoed in his M. Gates has commended the 25, the military asserted itself in in the face of angry civilians. "It
Human Rights Watch said this along with the defense minister, speech. At 74, Mr. Suleiman has Egyptian military for what he domestic politics for the first time is an open question," he said,
week that some military units Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein been one of Mr. Mubarak's clos- called "exemplary" conduct amid in years, deploying in Cairo and whether the chain of command
had been involved in detaining Tantawi, over a meeting of the est aides for nearly two decades, the street protests and said it had other cities. The initial reshuf- would be respected in a situation
and abusing protesters. But by Supreme Council of the Armed serving as chief of military intelli- "made a contribution to the evo- fling of Mr. Mubarak's govern- when it tasked a foot soldier or
ment, though perceived abroad even a commander to kill their
most accounts, army units de- Forces. Paul J. Sullivan, an ex- gence and then the nation's intel- lution of democracy:
In addition to its role as the ul- as a concession to the demonstra- own people!'
ployed in Cairo and other cities pert on the Egyptian military at ligence director until he was
timate source of political power, tors, tightened the grip of the milhave shown little appetite for us- the National Defense University, named vice president on Jan. 28.
Paul J. Sullivan, an expert on
His relationship with General the military has a huge role in the itary and intelligence old guard.
ing force to clear the streets.
the Egyptian military at the Na-
said it was only the third time in
Early Friday, Mohamed El- Egypt's history that the council Enan is unclear. General Enan, Egyptian economy. Since a peace
First came the advance of Mr. tional Defense University, said he
n
Baradei, an opposition leader and had met; the other meetings 63, is a generation younger than treaty was signed with Israel i Suleiman, whose appointment to had "never been more worried
Mr. Mubarak. He has spent ex- 1979, military industries have ex- the vice presidency has all but about Egypt and the region than
the former head of the Interna- were during wars with Israel.
Neither Mr. Mubarak nor Mr. tended periods in the United panded in part to keep a rela- ruled out the succession of the now:'
tional Atomic Energy Agency,
president's son Gamal, 47, a wellposted a message on Twitter say- Suleiman were at the meeting, States and is closer to American tively idle officer corps content.
He said: "When you have
"Part of the strategy was to connected businessman, remov- hopes that are dashed, that's the
and the resulting communiqu commanders than the oldest
Thorn Shanher contributed re- declared that the council had met Egyptian military leaders, includ- buy their acquiescence through a ing a challenge to the military's most dangerous moment. All bets
"in affirmation of support for the ing Mr. Tantawi, 75, the defense greater economic role for them," dominance. Gamal Mubarak has are off."
porting.

Military Is Caught Between Two Sides

Fears of Violence
in Standoff
By ANTHONY SHADID
and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
CAIRO President Hosni Mubarak
told the Egyptian people on Thursday
that he would delegate authority to Vice
President Omar Suleiman but that he
would not resign, enraging hundreds of
thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new
stage in the three-week uprising.
The declaration by Mr. Mubarak that
he would remain president appeared to
signal a dangerous
escalation in one of
the largest popular
revolts in Egypt's
history, and some
protesters warned
that weeks of peaceful rallies might give
way to violence as
early as Friday.
17-minute
The
speech itself underlined a seemingly unbridgeable gap between ruler and ruled
in Egypt: Mr. Mubarak, in paternalistic
tones, talked in great detail about
changes he planned to make to Egypt's
autocratic Constitution, while crowds in
Tahrir Square, with bewilderment and
anger, demanded that he step down.
Mr. Mubarak seemed oblivious. "It's
not about me," he said in his address.
When he was done, crowds in Cairo
waved the bottoms of their shoes in the
air, a gesture intended to convey disgust, and shouted, "Leave! Leave!"
The reaction abroad to Mr. Mubarak's address was more measured, but
also critical. President. Obama issued a
statement on Thursday night saying
that "too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy?' European leaders also called
for more fundamental change and
urged that it happen faster.
The speech came after a tumultuous
day of dramatic gestures and fevered
speculation in which the newly appointed leader of Mr. Mubarak's party said
the president had agreed to step down,
and the military issued a communiqu
in which it declared it was intervening
to safeguard the country, language
some opposition leaders read as signaling a possible coup d'etat.
Earlier in the day, even Mr. Obama
Continued on Page AIO

Inuoaraiz Ketuses to atep Down, btirring Egyptian Protesters to New tury

rak's plea to endorse his vision of
peared in Tahrir Square to tell
From Page Al
gradual reform. Some said his
the protesters the same thing, to
seemed to believe that Mr. Muba- speech was intended to divide the
roars of celebration.
rak would go further, celebrating protesters, by peeling off those
The reports seemed increashis belief that Egypt was "wit- who thought he had gone far
ingly convincing, to both protestenough.
Others
said
it
reflected
nessing history unfold."
ers and even high-ranking offiInstead, Mr. Mub.arak, 82, a for- the isolation of a president they
cials. Hossam Badrawy, the top
mer general, struck a defiant, had come to detest.
official of the ruling party, said in
"Mubarak didn't believe us uneven provocative note. While he
a television interview that he had
acknowledged for the first time til now, but we will make him bepersonally told the president he
that his government had made lieve tomorrow," said Ashraf Osshould resign. And, though Mr.
mistakes, he made it clear that he man, 49, an accountant who
Mubarak did not respond, Mr.
was still president and that re- joined protesters in the square.
Badrawy said he believed he
By midnight, about 3,000 proforms in Egypt would proceed
would go. "That is my expectaunder his government's supervi- testers made their way from the
tion, that is my hope," he added in
sion and according to the time- square to the Radio and Televian interview. The news electrision Building, which protesters
table of elections in September.
fied protestors in the square.
Though Mr. Suleiman was al- loathe for propaganda that has
Wael Ghonim, a Google executive
ready acting as the face of the cast them as troublemakers. The
and protest organizer whose anti
government, the announcement building was barricaded with
torture Facebook page helped iggave him official duties, albeit barbed wire, tanks and armored
nite the movement, celebrated in
vehicles. Many protesters said
ones Mr. Mubarak can revoke.
a Twitter feed: "Mission accom"I saw fit to delegate the au- they planned to sleep there, in
plished. Thanks to all the brave
thorities of the president to the yet another move to broaden
young Egyptians." The crowd in
vice president, as dictated by the their protests that have so far foTahrir Square soon swelled to
Constitution;' Mr. Mubarak said. cused on Tahrir Square and the
half a million.
He added that he was "adamant nearby Parliament building.
But as night fell on a rainy day
"We
must
stop
these
liars;'
to continue to shoulder my reand Egyptians huddled around
sponsibility to protect the consti- said Mohamed Zuhairy, a 30their televisions in anticipation of
TARA TODRAS-WHIlEHILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
tution and safeguard the inter- year-ord engineer, who had
a
presidential
resignation
Wael
Ghonim,
center,
a
Google
executive
and
protest
organizer
in
Tahrir
Square
on
Thursday.
joined the crowd. "Television
ests of the people."
speech, confusion began to swirl.
He echoed the contention of of- must reflect the real power of the
Contradicting what had become a
ficials in past days that foreign- revolution."
after Mr. Mubarak's speech had with crucial earnings.
told the BBC that talks with Mr. widespread conviction that Mr.
ers might be behind the uprising,
There were even moments of yet to be broadcast by early FriOrganizers have said demon- Mubarak about his possible res- Mubarak was on the way out, the
but he cited no evidence to sup- humor in a country with a well- day.
strators plan to rally at six sites ignation were already under way. minister of information said the
port that allegation.
deserved reputation for it. ProGen. Hassan al-Roueini ap- president would not resign at all.
For days, the protests in Tahrir throughout the capital on Friday,
"We will not accept or listen to testers joked that the defining Square have gathered momen- then converge not only on Tahrir peared in Tahrir Square to tell On state television, agitated anaany foreign interventions or dic- chant of the protests "The peo- tum, with some of the biggest Square as in the past, but also on protesters that "all your de- lysts speculated openly about
tations," he said.
ple want the overthrow of the crowds yet on Tuesday, despite Parliament and the television mands will be met today," wit- conflict between the president
For hours before Mr. Muba- government" had become the government's attempts to building. While organizers have nesses said, words that were and military.
rak's speech, jubilant crowds, "The people want to understand suggest that the city was return- said Friday's rallies may be some quickly read by crowds around
Mr. Mubarak opened his
prematurely celebrating their the speech."
ing to normalcy. In the square, of the biggest protests yet, they him to mean that Mr. Mubarak speech with words that suggestvictory, positioned themselves
In a sign of the confusion that tents have multiplied, as the pro- spoke in darker tones about what was on the way out.
ed he was staying.
next to large speakers for what reigned in Cairo, youthful opposi- tests themselves have exalted they may represent now, given
"I am addressing all of you
A short time later, the military,
they assumed was a resignation tion leaders sought to dissect the the resonant symbols of sacrifice. what many view as the determi- still seon as the potentially (left from the heart, a speech from the
speech. Men passed out free series of statements from the mil- Pictures of those killed adorn nation of Mr. Mubarak to stay in sive player in the conflict, an- lathy' to tits sons tind daughters,"
packages of dates. Protesters itary command, Mr. Mubarak tents, some inscribed with notes office, whatever the numbers.
nounced that it was taking power he said. l le expressed what he
parted only for lines of teenagers and Mr. Suleiman. Some believed from passersby.
described as pride for them.
"He set the country on fire," in what sounded like a coup.
chanting: "He's going to go. that the army, long a player beThe response ranged from the
"They are heroes," said Gamal said Zyad el-Elaimy, one of the
"In affirmation and support for
We're not going to go."
hind the scenes, was still intent Shaaban, a 49-year-old govern- organizers. "No one can control the legitimate demands of the despondent to the desperate.
At about 10:45, the crowd qui- on seeking power but had not yet ment employee who scrawled on the violence tomorrow. Tomor- people, the Supreme Council of
"Can this man be serious or did
eted as Mr. Mubarak started his mustered the leverage to force one of the pictures, "You are the row I think a lot of people will be the Armed Forces convened to- he lose his mind?" asked George
speech, which was transmitted Mr. Mubarak from office.
true people."
killed."
day, 10 February 2011, to consider Ishak, a longtime opposition leadvia a tiny radio that someone
"We are thinking there has
"This government has no leThe anger was fueled in good developments to date;' an army er. "People will not go home and
held up to a microphone. As it been a clash between the army gitimacy left," he said. "It's lost it. part by expectations that Mr. Mu- spokesman declared on state tomorrow will be a horrible day.
wore on, the muttering began. and Suleiman, and the army It's now the legitimacy of the barak would be making his last television, in what was described It is a redundant speech, it is an"Donkey," someone said.
wants us to raise our protests so people and the revolution."
address to the nation. For much as communiqu No. 1 of the army noying and we heard it a thouSoon, angry chants echoed they can take over," said Shady
Along with the, protests; labor of the day; people traded rumors command, "and decided to re= sand timtOgort."
through the square. People gath- el-Ghazali Harb, a protest leader. strikes have flared across Egypt, about where he might be prepar- main in continuous session to
Mohamed ElBaradei, an oppoered in groups, confused, en- "We think the army doesn't want organized by workers at post of- ing to go to Bahrain and Dubai consider what procedures and sition leader and Nobel laureate,
raged and faced with Mr. Muba- Omar Suleiman."
fices, telecommunications cen- were two rumored destinations measures that may be taken to was blunter, calling for the milIt was unclear whether the mil- ters, textile factories and cement and then by a cascade of offi- protect the nation, and the itary to step in.
Reporting was contributed by itary had tried to oust Mr. Muba- plants. Clashes have occurred in cial statements suggesting that achievements and aspirations of
"I ask the army to intervene
Kareem Fahim, Liam Stack, rak and failed or was participat- distant parts of the country might be the case.
the great people of Egypt."
immediately to save Egypt," he
Mona El-Naggat and Thanassis ing in a more complicated char- from the New Valley west of the
The first came from the civilianAround the same time, Gen. wrote on his Twitter feed. "The
Cambanis from Cairo and Sheryl eography in Egypt's opaque sys- Nile to Suez, a city along the Suez government. Around 3 p.m., Sami Hafez Enan, the chief of credibility of the army is being
Stolbergfrom Marquette, Mich.
tem of rule. A military statement Canal, whidh provides Egypt Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq staff of the armed forces, ap- put to the test."

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Out of Touch, Out of Time

country. This is my home. I will clean all
Jazeera get you so riled up. Also, don't
CAIRO
Watching President Hosni Mubarak let that Obama guy dictate to us proud Egypt when Mubarak will go out." Ownership is a beautiful thing.
Egyptians what to do."
addressing his nation Thursday night, exAs I was leaving the garbage pile, I ran
plaining why he would not be drummed
This narrative is totally out of touch
into three rather prosperous-looking men
out of office by foreigners, I felt embarwith the reality of this democracy upriswho wanted to talk. One of them, Ahmed
rassed for him and worried for Egypt.
ing in Tahrir Square, which is all about
This man is staggeringly out of touch
Awn, 31, explained that he was financially
the self-empowerment of a long-recomfortable and even stood to lose if the
with what is happening inside his coun- ' pressed people no longer willing to be
turmoil here continued, but he wanted to
try. This is Rip Van Winkle meets Faceafraid, no longer willing to be deprived of
their freedom, and no longer willing to be
join in for reasons so much more imbook.
The fact that the several hundred thouhumiliated by their own leaders, who told
portant than money. Before this uprising,
sand Egyptians in Tahrir Square reacted
them for 30 years that they were not
he said, "I was not proud to tell people I
to Mubarak's speech by waving their ready for democracy. Indeed, the Egypwas an Egyptian. Today, with what's been
shoes they surely would have thrown tian democracy movement is everything done here" in Tahrir Square, "I can
proudly say again I am an Egyptian."
them at him if he had been in range that Hosni Mubarak says it is not: homeand shouting "go away, go away," pretty
grown, indefatigable and authentically
Humiliation is the single most powerful
Egyptian. Future historians will write
human emotion, and overcoming it is the
about the large historical forces that cresecond most powerful human emotion.
ON.INEx OPINION TODAY
ated this movement, but it is the small
That is such a big part of what is playing
stories you encounter in Tahrir Square
out here.
tht, More coverage on Egypt by Roger
that show why it is unstoppable.
Finally, crossing the Nile bridge away
rt. Cohen and Room for Debate
I spent part of the morning in the
from the square, I was stopped by a wellavailable online.
square watching and photographing a dressed Egyptian man a Times reader
nytimes.com/opinion
group of young Egyptian students wear- who worked in Saudi Arabia. He was
ing plastic gloves taking garbage in both
with his wife and two young sons. He told
much sums up the reaction. Mubarak, in
hands and neatly scooping it into black me that he came to Cairo Thursday to
one speech, shifted this Egyptian democplastic bags to keep the area clean. This
take his two sons to see, hear, feel and
racy drama from mildly hopeful, even
touched me in particular because more
touch Tahrir Square. "I want it seared in
thrilling, to dangerous.
than once in this column I have quoted
their memory," he told me. It seemed to
All day here there was a drumbeat of
the aphorism that "in the history of the
be his way of ensuring that this autocracy
leaks that the fix was in: Mubarak was
world no one has ever washed a rented
never returns. These are the people
leaving, the army leadership was meeting
car." I used it to make the point that no
whom Mubarak is accusing of being
one has ever washed a rented country eiand Vice President Omar Suleiman would
stirred up entirely by foreigners. In truth,
ther and for the last century Arabs
oversee the constitutional reform prothe Tahrir movement is one of the most
have just been renting their countries
cess. The fact that this did not turn out to
authentic, most human, quests for dignity
from kings, dictators and colonial powers.
and freedom that I have ever seen.
be the case suggests there is some kind of
So, they had no desire to wash them.
a split in the leadership of the Egyptian
But rather than bowing to that, retiring
Well, Egyptians have stopped renting,
Army, between the anti-Mubarak factions
gracefully and turning over the presidenat least in Tahrir Square, where a sign
leaking his departure and the pro-Mubacy either to the army or some kind presihung Thursday said: "Tahrir the only
rak factions helping him to stay.
dency council made up of respected figfree place in Egypt." So I went up to one
The words of Mubarak and Suleiman
ures to oversee the transition to democradirected to the democracy demonstrators of these young kids on garbage duty cy, Mubarak seems determined to hang
Karim Turki, 23, who worked in a skinon in a way that, at best, will slow down
could not have been more insulting:
care shop and asked him: "Why did
Egypt's evolution to democracy and, at
"Trust us. We'll take over the reform
you volunteer for this?" He couldn't get
worst, take a grass-roots, broad-based
agenda now. You all can go back home,
the words out in broken English fast
Egyptian nonviolent democracy moveget back to work and stop letting those
enough: "This is my earth. This is my
ment and send it into a rage.

foreign satellite TV networks i.e., Al

JASON MANNIX, POLYGRAPH

The Next Step for Egypt's Opposition

lost its own people's trust.
to interact and share ideas, bypassing,
By Mohamed ElBaradei
in virtual space, the restrictions placed
Egypt will not wait forever on this
4 caricature of a leader we witnessed on
on physical freedom of assembly.
television yesterday evening, deaf to
The world has witnessed their tourCAIRO
the voice of the people, hanging on obW HEN I was a young age and determination in recent weeks,
sessively to power that is no longer his
but democracy is not a cause that first
man in Cairo, we
to keep.
occurred to them on Jan. 25. Propelled
voiced our political
What needs to happen instead is a
by a passionate belief in democratic
views in whispers, if at
peaceful and orderly transition of powideals and the yearning for a better fuall, and only to friends
er, to channel the revolutionary fervor
ture, they have long been mobilizing
we could trust. We lived in an atmosinto concrete steps for a new Egypt
phere of fear and repression. As far
and laying the groundwork for change
based on freedom and social justice.
back as I can remember, I felt outrage
that they view as inevitable.
The tipping point came with the Tu- The new leaders will have to guarantee
as I witnessed the misery of Egyptians
the rights of all Egyptians. They will
struggling to put food on the table, keep
nisian revolution, which sent a powerful
need to dissolve the current Parliament,
a roof over their heads and get medical
psychological message: "Yes, we can."
no longer remotely representative of
care. I saw firsthand how poverty and
These young leaders are the future of
the people. They will also need to abolrepression can destroy values and
Egypt. They are too intelligent, too
ish the Constitution, which has become
crush dignity, self-worth and hope.
aware of what is at stake, too weary of
an instrument of repression, and reHalf a century later, the freedoms of
place it with a provisional Constitution,
the Egyptian people remain largely dea three-person presidential council and
nied. Egypt, the land of the Library of
a transitional government of national
Alexandria, of a culture that contributed
,
unity.
groundbreaking advances in mathematics, medicine and science, has fallen
The presidential council should infar behind. More than 40 percent of our
elude a representative of the military,
people live on less than S2 per day.
embodying the sharing of power needed
Nearly 30 percent are illiterate, and
to ensure continuity and stability during
Egypt is on the list of failed states.
promises long unfulfilled, to settle for
this critical transition. The job of the
Under the three decades of Hosni Muanything less than the departure of the
presidential council and the interim
barak's rule, Egyptian society has lived
old regime. I am humbled by their braygovernment during this period should
under a draconian "emergency law"
ery and resolve.
be to set in motion the process that will
that strips people of their most basic
turn Egypt into a free and democratic
Many, particularly in the West, have
rights, including freedom of association
society. This includes drafting a demobought the Mubarak regime's fiction
and of assembly, and has imprisoned
cratic Constitution to be put to a referthat a democratic Egypt will turn into
tens of thousands of political dissidents.
endum, and preparing for free and fair
chaos or a religious state, abrogate the
While this Orwellian regime has been
presidential and parliamentary elecfragile peace with Israel and become
valued by some of Egypt's Western altions within one year.
hostile to the West. But the people of
lies as "stable," providing, among other Egypt the grandmothers in veils who
We are at the dawn of a new Egypt. A
assets, a convenient location for rendi- , have dared to share Tahrir Square with
free and democratic society, at peace
tion, it has been in reality a ticking
army tanks, the jubilant young people
with itself and with its neighbors, will be
bomb and a vehicle for radicalism.
who have risked their lives for their first
a bulwark of stability in the Middle East
But one aspect of Egyptian society taste of these new freedoms are not
and a worthy partner in the internationso easily fooled.
has changed in recent years. Young
al community. The rebirth of Egypt repEgyptians, gazing through the windows
resents the hope of a new era in which
The United States and its allies have
of the Internet, have gained a keener
Arab society, Muslim culture and the
spent the better part of the last decade,
sense than many of their elders of the
Middle East are no longer viewed
at a cost of hundreds of billions of dolfreedoms and opportunities they lack.
through the lens of war and radicalism,
lars and countless lives, fighting wars to
They have found in social media a way establish democracy in Iraq and Af- but as contributors to the forward
ghanistan. Now that the youth of Cairo, march of humanity, modernized by adMohamed ElBaradei, as the director armed with nothing but Facebook and vanced science and technology, enriched by our diversity of art and culthe power of their convictions, have
general of the International Atomic Enture and united by shared universal valdrawn millions into the street to deergy Agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize
ues.
mand a true Egyptian democracy, it
in 2005. He is the author of the forthcoming book "The Age of Deception: Nuwould be absurd to continue to tacitly
We have nothing to fear but the shadclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times."
endorse the rule of a regime that has
ow of a repressive past.
El

After Mubarak's speech

the people must act.

Nigel

U.S. Faces a Stark Choice as an Ally Clings to His Offic

To some extent, Mr. Mubarak opened Human Rights Watch, who has been
the door for President Obama to appeal among several outside experts advising
By MARK LANDLER
even more directly to the protesters, the White House on Egypt in recent
and MARK MAZZETTI
some of whom have felt betrayed by the days. "Whatever cards they have,
WASHINGTON President Hosni administration's cautious approach, the time to play them."
Mubarak's refusal to step down on
saying it placed strategic interests
In its first reaction, the administraThursday, after a day of rumors galva- ahead of democratic values. In his tion offered few overt signs of a change
nized the crowds in Cairo, confronts the speech, Mr. Mubarak said he would not in policy. While criticizing the move
Obama administration with a stark brook foreign interference, suggesting insufficient. it made no direct
choice: break decisively with Mr. Muba- that he was digging in his heels after Mt itubarairs resignation.
rak or stick to its call for an "orderly days of prodding by the United Stites
W Oliama Tinedied Mr. Mubarais
transition" that may no longer be ten- forimmediate, irreirerstie chane_
speech mi bound AE Fate One, reable.
Mt Obama's remarks eat in the nornalg from a triP to Michigan, the
t On a day of dashed hopes co Egypc
day, in which he celebrated the hopes cif press secretary, Robert Gibbs, sSid. As
Om administratialts ants to bale a arcing gemendmi" if Egypt , soon as he arrived at the White lbw,
ance the democratic aspirations of the were broadcast in r.airo, drawing Mr. Obama huddled with his national

protesters against a fear of contributing

cheers from the protesters.
security aides. The administration apto broader instability in the Middle East
"The administration has to put every- peared as taken aback by Mr. Mubacollided head-on with Mr. Mubarak's thing on the line now," said Thomas rak's speech as the crowds in
defiant refusal to relinquish his office.
Malinowski. the Washington director of
Continued on Page _411

tl n

TT

As an Ally Clings to Office, U.S. Faces Stark Choke of Whether to Break With Him
desire to fulfill the reform pro- compared the difficulty of makThe chaotic events on Thurs- transition," said Martin S. Indyk,
From Page Al
cess and continue the dialogue ing intelligence judgments to

A
day called much of the adminis- the director of foreign policy at
forecasting earthquakes: even
Square. The director of the Cen- tration's strategy in dealing with the Brookings Institution.
"But An 'orderly transition' with the opposition."
.
Mr. Panetta's rather firm dec- mapping the fault lines cannot
i tral Intelligence Agency, Leon E. the Egyptian crisis into question. this week, he raised doubts about may no longer be
laration to Congress about Mr. give you precise information
Panetta, testified before the For days, the administration has whether he had made the conMubarak's exit came at an awk- about the next earthquake.
House of Representatives on pinned its hopes on a transition version to a democrat. And now possible.
Still, Mr. Panetta said that his
ward moment, since top intelliThursday morning that there process managed by the Egyp- Mubarak has dragged Suleiman
gence officials had already come agency needed to better underk r was a "strong likelihood" that tian vice president, Omar Sulei- down with him, in the eyes of the
under fire for assessments about stand the "triggers" that can set
Mr. Mubarak would step down by man. But Mr. Suleiman followed protesters."
was hardly clear in a lengthy ad- the turmoil in the Middle East.
off events like the protests in
For the administration, as for
Mr. Mubarak on television, alignthe end of the day.
American officials said Mr. Egypt. He said that he had asked
American officials said Mr. Pa- ing himself squarely with his the crowds, it was a day of keen dress that focused more on his refusal
to
be
ousted.
) netta was basing his statement boss, urging the protesters to de- anticipation, followed by intense
Obama was unhappy about some C.I.A. station chiefs for "better
"He now has all the authorities
' not on secret intelligence but on camp, go back to work and stop confusion. CNN was on in offices bestowed on the president by the of the recent judgments of Ameri- collection on issues like popular
c media broadcasts, which began watching foreign satellite TV across Washington, with Secrecan spy agencies, in particular sentiments, issues like the
Constitution,"
Mr.
Shoukry
said
the conclusion that President strength of the opposition, issues
circulating before he sat down channels. That extravagant show tary of State Hillary Rodham
before the House Intelligence of loyalty may doom any chances Clinton and other officials wait- of Mr. Suleiman in an interview, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia like what is the role of the InCommittee. But Mr. Obama, too, for Mr. Suleiman to function as ing for a speech that they be- including command of the mil- would remain in power and that ternet in that particular country"
seemed to believe Egypt was on an honest broker in the transition lieved would be a major step for- itary. Mr. Mubarak, the ambassa- Tunisian security forces would and similar topics.
dor said, retains the power to come to his defense.
Speaking to the same House
i the cusp of dramatic change. something on which the ad- ward in the crisis.
Shortly after the speech, amend the Constitution, dissolve
Defending the C.I.A.'s work on panel, the director of national inSpeaking at Northern Michigan ministration had been counting,
University in Marquette, he said, in part because it has good rela- Egypt's ambassador to Washing- Parliament and dismiss the cabi- Thursday, Mr. Panetta said that telligence, James R. Clapper,
"We are witnessing history un- tions with Mr. Suleiman, a former ton, Sameh Shoukry, said he net. And Mr. Mubarak could al- the agency last year issued near- gave spy agencies a grade of
ly 400 reports about simmering "B-plus, if not A-minus" for their
called the White House after the ways take power back.
fold," adding, "America will do head of Egyptian intelligence.
Defending Mr. Suleiman, Mr. tensions in the Middle East, and recent Middle East forecasting.
"The administration had been speech to say that Mr. Mubarak
everything we can to support an
orderly and genuine transition to looking toward Suleiman to han- had in fact delegated his powers Shoukry said, "The vice presi- the "potential for disruption?' A But, he cautioned, "We are not
die the orderly part of the orderly to Mr. Suleiman a move that dent's statements indicated his native Californian, Mr. Panetta clairvoyant:'
democracy."
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U.S. Says Lebanese Bank Laundered Money for Drug Smugglers Tied to Hezbollah
Shiites.
institutions like exchange houses West Africa or other overseas destinaanon, a Middle East banking hub, is
struggling to overcome one of its worst around the world to help launder money tions to be sold, the complaint said.
Political observers were not sure
WASHINGTON The United States
Mr. Levey said that the bank also what impact the complaint would have
political crises in recent history, and for Ayman Joumaa, whom the Treasury
accused one of Lebanon's largest banks
helped Mr. Joumaa wire money' to colon relations between the United States
could exacerbate tensions between the
Department has declared a drug kingon Thursday of laundering hundreds of
and Lebanon. It comes one month after
United States and Hezbollah, a powerful pin. Mr. Levey said Mr. Joumaa, whose laborators in Asia, who would buy conmillions of dollars a month for a multiShiite Muslim movement.
Lebanon's government collapsed when
assets in the United States were frozen sumer goods that were shipped for sale
national drug trafficking organization
Hezbollah and its allies withdrew 11
to countries in Latin America.
Drug Enforcement Administration oflast month by the department's Office of
with ties to Hezbollah.
ministers from the cabinet. The move
ficials said the complaint culminated a
It is unclear, treasury officials said,
The complaint against the Beirut- five-year investigation involving agents
was part of a protest against an inhow much of the profits from those
based Lebanese Canadian Bank was
vestigation by an international tribun I
in Colombia, West Africa, Europe, the
sales was used to support Hezbollah,
which the United States formally desig- which is expected to indict sev j
filed under a rarely used provision of Middle East and the United States. The
A
case
could
worsen
the
the Patriot Act that allows the Treasury
members of the movement in cone'
nated as a terrorist organization in 1997.
officials said it shed light on the ways
Department to publicly identify finanthat terrorist organizations increasingly
Mr. Levey said several bank officials tion with the assassination of for
United States tensions
cial institutions considered "primary
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
relied on the illegal drug trade to help fiwere linked to Hezbollah officials outmoney laundering concerns" and then nance their activities.
with a militant group.
The walkout toppled Mr. Hariri's
side of Lebanon, including in Iran and
move to restrict their business dealings
Saad Hariri, from the prime minist
Gambia.
"As the number of state sponsors of
in the United States.
office. His successor, Najib Mikati, J o
terror go down, and other financing
Lebanese officials close to their counThe bank denied knowledge of any
was hastily installed with Hezboll
streams dry up, drug trafficking is filltry's robust banking sector said that
Foreign Assets Control, moved shipwrongdoing, saying in a statement that
support, has yet to appoint a new c
ing the void," said Derek Maltz, the
though the bank was owned by a Maroments
of
cocaine
from
Colombia
it would "fully cooperate and coordinate
net.
D.E.A. special agent in charge of the innite Christian, several members of its
. it
through West Africa to buyers in Euwith the relevant regulatory authorities
The observers said that the American
vestigation.
board including Nabih Berri, the
in an effort to demonstrate the integrity
leader of Parliament and more than complaint against Lebanese Canad*
During a news conference on Thurs- rope. .
The bulk cash from those sales was
and transparency of its operations."
Bank was likely to be viewed as die
half its employees were Shiites either
day morning, Stuart A. Levey, a treasdeposited into accounts at the Lebanese
The move comes at a time when Lebsympathetic to, or supportive of, Hezmore attempt by the United States `to
ury under secretary, described an elabCanadian Bank, and then wired to used
cast a harsh light on Hezbollah, which
bollah. They said the bank's main cliorate global clunkers-for-cash kind of
Hwaida Saad and Nada Bakri contribut- scheme in which senior managers at the car dealers in the United States, who ents were Lebanese businessmen who the Obama administration considers to
be a militant group propped up by Iran.
worked in Africa, a majority of them
bank used its connections to financial would buy vehicles and ship them to
ed reporting from Beirut.
By GINGER THOMPSON