Sen. Kerry: Mubarak Should Step Down

February 1, 2011 2:44 PM

US Senator John Kerry, Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee (credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry is saying publicly what senior U.S. officials have said only privately: Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak should step down.

The head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Mubarak should “step aside gracefully to make way for a new political structure.”

He wrote in the New York Times that it isn’t enough for Mubarak to pledge “fair” elections. Kerry says the best way to avoid “unrest turning into upheaval is for President Mubarak to take himself and his family out of the equation.”

The Obama administration so far has confined its public comments to calls for restraint, reforms and a transition to a real democracy.

The State Department today ordered non-essential U.S. government personnel and their families to leave Egypt amid growing anti-government protests and uncertainty over the security situation.

Megan

And Senator Kerry you should be pushing for Colin and Ramsay to come home!
jaygee

I don’t know if he will leave right away but he will definately exit, simply because the writing is on the proverbial wall. I’m just wondering what all of the politicians will say when he leaves and Egypt becomes another fundamentalist, Islamic state. When we finally remove our troops from Afghanistan & Iraq, will they just head for Cairo? When will we ever learn to mind our own business?