The White House and Egyptian officials are in talks about the possibility of embattled President Hosni Mubarak stepping down immediately, with the government to be handed over to Vice President Omar Suleiman, The New York Times reported Thursday evening, citing administration officials.
The report came as the US Senate approved by unanimous consent a resolution urging Mubarak to create a caretaker government.
The resolution, sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), called on Mubarak “to immediately begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system, including the transfer of power to an inclusive interim caretaker government.”
Earlier Thrursday, Egyptian anti-government protesters and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak pelted each other with rocks and fought for territory in the heart of Cairo as the vice president went on state television to say the country would not accept foreign meddling.
The army built a buffer zone around Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the epicenter of 10 days of unrest, but protesters dodged soldiers to stage random attacks, Sky News reported. There also was fighting on the October 6 Bridge over the River Nile.
Mubarak said Thursday he wants to leave office, but fears chaos if he resigns, AFP reported.
In an interview with ABC television, the embattled Egyptian president also told interviewer Christiane Amanpour, “I never intended to run again, I never intended (his son) Gamal to be president after me.”
ABC senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper also tweeted that Mubarak told Amanpour, “I don’t care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt.
“I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other.”
At least nine people died and some 300 were injured in Thursday’s violence, according to AFP.
VIDEO: RIVAL GROUPS CLASH IN CAIRO
The clashes came less than 24 hours before a massive new demonstration planned by opposition forces for Friday, which they have deemed “departure day” for President Hosni Mubarak.
Meanwhile, foreign journalists increasingly became the targets of beatings and arrests amid the pandemonium in the streets, with representatives of CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the BBC among those singled out.
The country’s newly-appointed vice president Omar Suleiman, a longtime ally of Mubarak, went on national television Thursday night to say Egypt would not accept intervention in its internal affairs. “Intervention in our internal affairs is strange, unacceptable and we will not allow it,” he said, according to Reuters.
His remarks came shortly after US President Barack Obama, whose administration reportedly has been pressing Mubarak to step down sooner than next September’s election, told a national prayer breakfast, “We pray that the violence in Egypt will end and that the rights and aspirations of the Egyptian people will be realized, and that a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world.”
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Suleiman also called the protesters’ demand for Mubarak to step down a “call for chaos” and said the banned Muslim Brotherhood had been invited to join talks between the government and opposition parties but “they are hesitant.”
He urged protesters to leave Tahrir Square, saying, “End your sit-in. Your demands have been answered.”
In a reference to the waves of journalists from around the world now broadcasting from Cairo, Suleiman told Egyptian youths that “satellite TV stations” are “arousing you against your country” and, ” I reproach some friendly countries who have TV networks that incited youths to do what they did.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who was attacked Wednesday by pro-Mubarak demonstrators along with two colleagues outside Tahrir Square, said, “It was pandemonium. There was no control. Suddenly a man would come up to you and punch you in the face.”
Ominously, a foreigner was beaten to death in Tahrir Square Thursday, medics and witnesses told AFP. The victim’s name and nationality were not immediately known.
US citizens wanting to leave Egypt were advised to get going by the State Department, which instructed them to start moving to Cairo’s airport “ASAP” after the nightly curfew ended at 8:00am local time. Further US government flights after Thursday were unlikely.
Britain said it was sending a second charter plane to Egypt to transport home stranded tourists and workers and that it would evacuate nonessential embassy staff.
About 300 UN staff and relatives were evacuated on two flights from Cairo Thursday, according to a UN spokesman.
Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said he was prepared to go to Tahrir Square and meet protesters and described Wednesday’s bitter fighting that left at least five dead as “unforgettably dreadful,” MENA news agency reported.
Egypt’s youth coalition rejected any dialogue, saying there would be no negotiations until Mubarak goes, AFP reported.
Shafiq earlier appeared on state TV to apologize for Wednesday’s violence and announce an investigation, adding that his government did not have enough police to provide security and that widely-despised former interior minister Habib al Adly would be probed over the shortage.
“When the army moved in, many of the riot police went back to their villages, and we can’t get them to come back,” Shafiq said.
Egypt’s public prosecutor said that three officials from the former government, including Adly, were banned from leaving the country and that their assets were frozen, MENA reported.
British cell phone provider Vodafone said Thursday that it was forced to send out pro-government text messages. “Vodafone Group has protested to the authorities that the current situation regarding these messages is unacceptable,” the company said in a statement.
State TV announced Cairo’s stock exchange would reopen Monday after what would then be a 10-day closure, AFP reported. Meanwhile, Fitch became the third ratings agency to downgrade Egypt’s debt, citing instability.
The crisis continued to weigh on world markets, with Brent crude rallying to a 28-month high above $103 a barrel.
With AP and NewsCore