Fox News reports: As protesters fill Tahrir Square in another day of demonstrations, an Israeli military intelligence official told Fox News that President Mubarak has left Cairo via helicopter, and was headed to his residence in Sharem a-Sheikh, a resort town in Egypt.
This comes a day after the embattled leader told protesters he planned to stay in office until the country’s upcoming elections in September.
Many opponents have made it clear that they want Mubarak and his authoritarian regime to step down immediately.
The statement by the Armed Forces Supreme Council — its second in two days — was a blow to many protesters who had called on the military to take action to push out Mubarak after his latest refusal to step down, reported the AP.
But soldiers also took no action to stop demonstrators from massing outside the palace and the headquarters of state television, indicating they were trying to avoid another outbreak of violence.
UPDATE (via Reuters): Al Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak and his family had left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs and had travelled to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of the president and his family. Al-Arabiya said it had confirmed the arrival of the president and his family in Sharm el-Sheikh.
A senior military source contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report. Al-Arabiya had initially reported “news” that Mubarak and his family had left Egypt.
The president often spends time in Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular tourist destination on the Red Sea, and receives guests there.
Protesters enraged at Mubarak’s refusal to quit pledged to march from Tahrir Square to the presidential palace on Friday, raising fears of a confrontation between elite troops and demonstrators.
Tens of thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters assembled in Tahrir (Liberation) Square while troops in tanks and armored vehicles stood by for what organizers billed as their biggest display of indignation in 18 days of protest.
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One Response
Israel probably got this info directly from Mubarak.
Since, according to the “peace” treaty with Egypt, they are forbidden to bring military aircraft (or ANYTHING military) into the Sinai, they must have cleared it with the IDF that they were helicoptering Mubarak to Sharm-eSheik.
Probably a good move by Mubarak to get far out of the “heat” of Cairo to a resort residence in Sinai.