Washington: Toughening its stand against embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Obama Administration on Wednesday asked the Mubarak Government to immediately start meaningful step towards transition in Egypt, which has experienced massive pro-democracy protests for more than a week now.
"The time for transition, as the (US) President has said, is now. It's important that the world see some concrete steps toward meaningful change," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters travelling with US President Barack Obama on Air Force One on their way to University Park, Pennsylvania.
"That change should begin with broad-based negotiations between the government and the opposition," Gibbs said as he strongly condemned the violence in Egypt against the protestors.
The government of Egypt has to ensure that peaceful protests can take place," Gibbs said. "We have obviously seen the remarks of the Prime Minister today and hope that his acknowledgment that anybody that is involved in this will be held accountable is something that the government is serious about," he said.
Stating that "systematic targeting" of journalists in Egypt "is completely and totally unacceptable" Gibbs demanded immediate release of any journalist who has been detained.
"We need to be clear that the world is watching the actions that are being taken right now in Egypt. The actions of targeting journalists is unacceptable. And those journalists, if they are being detained should be released immediately," he said.
Gibbs said the US President is constantly being briefed on this issue.
Comments
0 comment