Obama administration aligns itself with protests in Egypt with call for 'orderly transition'

The Obama admin firmly placed itself on Sunday with the protest movement that has overtaken Egypt, calling for an "orderly transition" to a more representative government amid rising U.S. concern that the demonstrations are turning violent and by which unrest could spread across the Arab world. In phone calls to Egyptian and regional leaders, Obama and his top national security advisers tried to reassure them that their countries remain vital U.S. strategic partners, while warning that the political status quo is not able to be substained.

According toSenior administration officials , the "transition" wording, used by both the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, was carefully chosen to indicate a desire for a representative, interim government to run Egypt until scheduled presidential elections held in September.

Clinton appeared  on five morning television shows to convey the message, resisted invitations to call precisely for President Hosni Mubarak, in power for three decades, to stand down. "Both existing and new members of any government" need to take "concrete steps to democratic and economic reform,” According to Clinton on CNN's "State of the Union."

"We are not advocating any specific outcome,". But "it needs to be done immediately, with a process that brings people to the table, and which Egyptian people can see."

Saying that "no one is satisfied" with the steps that has taken by the Mubarak since the protests for political and economic freedom began, she also said a transition process was needed "so that no one fills a void . . . what we don't want is chaos." The reference was to fears that radicals will move to take over what thus far have been largely secular protests.

As the administration struggled to move ahead, its efforts seemed still to leave this one step behind. The shift in message had no visible effect in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, And where massive anti-government protests continued for a sixth straight day and  the demonstrators were still reacting to Obama's earlier call for Mubarak to adopt reforms.

That advice,According to the pro-democracy activist and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, had landed "like lead" in the Egyptian capital.

"To ask a dictator to implement democratic measures after 30 years in power is an oxymoron," ElBaradei said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "It will not end until Mubarak leaves."

Former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muashersaid ,”The administration "has been way behind the curve. "So far, they're just reacting.

"This is not about Israel," Muasher said. "I wish for once the United States would just leave Israel out of this and look at it for what it is. People are fed up by the corruption, and they want a good government."

Egypt and Jordan  are central players in the faltering U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The Egyptian military, which deployed into cities as uniformed police inexplicably disappeared, continued to deal gently with the demonstrators Sunday and to assist self-appointed citizen patrols in chasing down marauding bands of looters and knife-wielding thugs. The military's ultimate role remained unclear, however, as F-16 fighter jets streaked through the skies in an apparent show of force and uniformed military leaders appeared alongside Mubarak on state-run tv. The State Department announced Sunday , it had arranged for the voluntary departure of diplomatic families and nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel aboard charter flights. It said that the flights would be available to any U.S. citizen who wanted to leave Egypt. Americans flooded State Department switchboards with appeals from relatives and friends in Egypt who said overworked phone lines and a government shutdown of the Internet had prevented them to touch with the U.S. Embassy which is in Cairo.

According to the Pentagon spokesmen ,Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had telephoned their Egyptian counterparts. In his conversation with Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, Mullen "expressed his appreciation for the continued professionalism of the Egyptian military," according to John Kirby, a spokesman for Mullen. "Both men reaffirmed their desire to see the partnership between our two militaries continue."

Gates also spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

According to The White House Obama on Saturday spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

In his calls, the White House said, Obama "reiterated his focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights, which including the right to peaceful assembly, association and speech; and supporting an orderly transition to a government which is responsive to the hop of the Egyptian people."

In a joint statement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, called on Mubarak "to avoid at all costs the use of violence against unarmed civilians."

The statement also urged Mubarak to begin political reforms, including the formation of a "broadly-based government and free and fair elections."

Several senior administration officials declined to discuss whether the United States was involved in any efforts to find a haven for Mubarak outside Egypt. The officials spoke of the dual imperatives for U.S. policy.

"We do think there are trends in the region that, frankly, have long pointed to the need for political reforms to make governments more responsive," Officials said ,The United States has to act in a way that recognizes long and important strategic partnerships in the region.