Clinton Calls for Egypt's Transition to Democracy, Urges Path to Avoid Power Vacuum

The United States wants to see steps taken to transition Egypt to a democracy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday in remarks that avoided stating a U.S. preference about Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's fate but offered several positive marks for Egypt's army.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Clinton said that no one is satisfied right now with the response to protests that have been ongoing for nearly a week and growing in strength each day, but now is the time to pursue greater political freedom, economic opportunity and a path to democracy.
"For 30 years, the United States, Republican and Democratic administrations, have been urging Mubarak to take certain steps. In fact, we have been urging that a vice president be appointed for decades, and that finally has happened, but there's a long way to go," Clinton said.
Acknowledging Mubarak's role in securing peace regionally over the past 30 years he has been in power, the secretary of state said for three decades Egypt's president has promised but not delivered reform in his own country. She said the time has come to respond to the Egyptian people's "legitimate grievances."
"We see a dialogue opening that reflects the full diversity of Egyptian civil society that has the concrete steps for democratic and economic reform that Mubarak himself said that he was going to pursue," she said.
Clinton said that while the U.S. is "sending a very clear message" about instituting an orderly transition, quick movement in that direction is needed to avoid "some takeover that would lead not to democracy, but to oppression and the end of aspirations of the Egyptian people."
"We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void, that there not be a void, that there be a well thought-out plan that will bring about a democratic, participatory government," she said. "I also believe strongly that this is in Egypt's long-term interest, it is in the interest of the partnership that the United States has with Egypt so that is what we are attempting to promote and support."
In Cairo, a Mubarak-imposed 4 p.m. curfew Sunday was reinforced with low-flying fighter jets meant to demonstrate the military's control over the city.
A central square where thousands of protesters were calling for Mubarak's departure was filled with the presence of army troops backed by tanks. Police also returned to the streets after nearly two days of absences that contributed to gangs of armed men freeing thousands of militants and other inmates from four jails, the burning of the ruling political party's offices and smashed ATMs, cars and other property.
The U.S. State Department has authorized "voluntary departures" in which the U.S. Embassy in Cairo will assist Americans seeking to leave the country.
Roughly 50,000 Americans reside in Egypt. None has been killed or injured so far, Clinton said.
Speaking separately on the same show, House Speaker John Boehner praised the Obama administration's response to events in Egypt.
"I think the administration, our administration so far has handled this intense situation pretty well," Boehner said. "Clearly reforms need to occur in Egypt, and any place where people are calling out for freedom and democracy, we have a responsibility to respond."