LA Times News

LA Times News

Obama's strategy was to pressure Mubarak without intruding

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 07:53 PM PST

The U.S. president's call to the Egyptian leader is described as one of the most difficult conversations Obama has had with a foreign head of state. The U.S. never publicly called for Mubarak to resign, fearing that approach could backfire.

Flying home from Michigan on Air Force One, President Obama sat in front of a television and watched Hosni Mubarak deliver a surprising speech: He would not quit.

A reborn Egypt gets back to business

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 05:13 PM PST

After 18 days of protests, workers return to a world now without Hosni Mubarak, and, tingling with freedom, look ahead.

The metalworkers beneath the overpass hammered tin and cut steel, smiling and making a big noise. Ladies hurried to market where sheep waited for slaughter. Boys, sensing something new in the air, ran through alleys, trailing flags.

Some Egyptians can't help but feel sorry for Mubarak

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 05:13 PM PST

In Heliopolis, a wealthy suburb of Cairo and site of the presidential palace, some residents rue the way the longtime ruler was forced out. 'It's not polite,' says one. 'He served the country for years.'

As the wild celebrations of a new beginning continued Saturday in Tahrir Square, the atmosphere was decidedly more subdued seven miles away near the Heliopolis Sporting Club and President Hosni Mubarak's former official residence.

Elation and impatience in Alexandria, Egypt

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 06:28 PM PST

As crowds fill the mosque and streets, some residents want to look back at what Hosni Mubarak's rule cost them, some want to bask in the moment, and some just want to get to work.

When Egypt's anti-government protests began, Mohamad Ramadan Ibrahim headed south to Cairo.

Mohamed ElBaradei's star dims in Egypt

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:58 PM PST

By the time Egyptians forced President Mubarak to quit, the enthusiasm for former U.N. nuclear regulator Mohamed ElBaradei had dwindled. He is viewed as a reluctant revolutionary who inspired but didn't lead.

He arrived uncorrupted and full of promise.

Palestinian officials pledge to hold elections by fall

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 03:14 PM PST

The PLO's promise is seen as an attempt to defuse rising frustrations in the West Bank, further stoked by the upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia. Hamas says it won't allow a vote in Gaza.

A day after watching Egypt's regime collapse, Palestinian officials promised Saturday they would elect new leadership in presidential and legislative elections by September, and said that their chief peace negotiator had tendered his resignation.

Beijing looks warily at Egypt uprising

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 02:59 PM PST

The Chinese government, nervous about comparisons between Tahrir and Tiananmen, is downplaying Egyptian protesters' joy and emphasizing the need for stability in Cairo.

Wary of the parallels between Tahrir and Tiananmen, Beijing is hardly celebrating the popular uprising in Egypt that brought down an authoritarian regime.

19 killed in Taliban strike at Afghanistan police headquarters

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 09:00 AM PST

The attack in Kandahar by Taliban gunmen and bombers kills policemen, soldiers and civilians, and leaves 49 injured.

A team of Taliban gunmen and bombers struck provincial police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday, killing at least 19 people and demonstrating a continued ability to mount complex attacks in a metropolis that has been a principal focus of Western military efforts.

Egypt's post-revolution celebration continues, political planning begins

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 07:48 AM PST

People rejoice over the fall of Hosni Mubarak for a second day as the Egyptian army takes steps to reassure the world of an orderly transition. The military says Egypt remains committed to its peace treaty with Israel. Pro-democracy activists express faith in the army and debate the path to democracy.

Egyptians carried their party into a second day as they sang, danced and cheered in ecstasy over the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Suicide bomber kills 26 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 10:11 AM PST

A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims, officials said, killing 26 people headed back from a revered shrine that has been a flashpoint in Iraqi sectarian strife.

U.S. faces critical test of influence on Egypt

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 07:34 PM PST

The Obama administration must elicit democratic reform from the Egyptian army without alienating the long-reliable ally.

The Obama administration got what it said it wanted when Hosni Mubarak surrendered power. Now it must deal with another daunting task: coaxing the country's new military rulers to deliver genuine democratic reforms they have resisted for decades.