His generals are turning on him.
President Hosni Mubarak’s two most senior military officials — Omar Suleiman, the newly named vice president, and Field Marshall Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister — “raised with him the idea that he should leave,” the Sunday Times of London reported last night, citing a source close to the leadership.
Suleiman, 75, was expecting a telephone call of support from Washington, which considers the lieutenant general an “island of stability,” the source said.
A diplomatic cable recently released by Wikileaks described the general as avidly opposed to radicalism — especially in Gaza, Iran and Sudan — and in favor of close relations with Washington.
Both Suleiman and Tantawi were looking for a “respectable” way for Mubarak to leave, the report said.
Still, there was no sign the “stubborn” Mubarak would agree to step down as the embattled president tapped Suleiman as the first-ever vice president in Mubarak’s 30-year rule — and named another military man, Ahmed Shafiq, as prime minister.
The moves, at the very least, ended the president’s son Gamal’s long-surmised ambitions to take over.
Egyptians were divided over Suleiman’s appointment — and outraged by Mubarak’s midnight TV address in which he promised reform and blasted protesters for plotting to tear apart the country.
The fast-moving developments came as the death toll topped 100 after five days of unprecedented protests in Egypt that have rocked the Arab world.
Amid the political uncertainty, public order in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities seemed to dissolve as mobs stormed supermarkets, banks, jewelry shops and government buildings.
Some 1,000 inmates escaped from Prison Demu, in a town southwest of Cairo and thieves at the Egyptian Museum damaged two mummies from the time of the pharaohs.
“They are letting Egypt burn to the ground,” said Inas Shafik, 35.
And as the police force vanished, civilian vigilantes stepped in to fill the void.
“There are no police to be found anywhere,” said one 23-year-old resident of an upscale Cairo neighborhood.
“Doormen and young boys from the neighborhoods are standing outside holding sticks, razors and other weapons to prevent people from coming in.”
Thousands in the city defied the Mubarak regime’s 4 p.m.-to-8 a.m. curfew, marching in smoke-filled streets and gathering in Tahrir Square to shout disapproval of his new appointees and his refusal to renounce power.
But soldiers mainly stood by, sharing hugs and smiles with the crowd, posing for pictures and even letting some people climb onto tanks and spray-paint anti-Mubarak slogans.
“The people and the army are one hand together!” chanted one group of flag-waving protesters.
One protester said Suleiman was the regime’s puppet.
“He is just like Mubarak, there is no change,” the man said.
“It is Mubarak who has to go,” shouted another protester.
When a group of about 50 people tried to move through a street carrying a sign that said “Army and People Together,” soldiers pulled back so they could pass, a witness said.
“There is a curfew, but the army is not going to shoot anybody,” a lieutenant told Reuters.
Chaos reigned in parts of Cairo, with looters trashing homes and shops. And authorities fought back against protesters in Beni Suef governorate, south of Cairo, shooting and killing 17 people who tried to attack two police stations.
The violence spurred the families of wealthy Egyptian businessmen with ties to Mubarak to flee the country in private jets, mainly to Dubai.