Cairo+Controversy

 **Cairo, Egypt (CNN) ** -- President Hosni Mubarak is expected to announce Thursday night that he is yielding power to the nation's military, a senior Egyptian government official told CNN. He said the process -- which included dialogue between the government and opposition representatives -- for implementing reforms and political transition lacked support and the government was forced to step outside the realm of "constitutional authority." "This is not a coup in the traditional sense," the official said. "But this is a transfer of the system of government from the civilian to military. The military is stepping up, recognizing its responsibility to the Egyptian people." "These were all definite and conclusive steps toward a political process under the constitution," the official said, referring to the effort to implement reforms. "But this political process never received enough support, either from the crowd of the international community. Now we have to go outside the constitutional frame." Mubarak met with Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in closed-door talks Thursday night, state television said.  Mubarak will address the nation from the presidential headquarters in Cairo on Thursday night, state-run TV said. It will be the third time he has spoken publicly since the protests -- rowdy with revolutionary fervor Thursday -- began on January 25. They chanted "civil, civil, not military!" as reports came in about the possible military takeover. But it still remains unclear exactly what Mubarak would say or what action he would take. A senior U.S. official told CNN that Mubarak had agreed to yield power to his vice president. The official cited high ranking contacts within the Egyptian government and called the information reliable but expressed some skepticism. "We need to see it happen," the official said. And CIA Director Leon Panetta told the U.S. Congress that there was a "strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down this evening, which would be significant in terms of where the hopefully orderly transition in Egypt takes place." "We are continuing to monitor the situation," Panetta said. "I don't know the particulars of how this would work but I would assume that he would turn over more of his powers to Suleiman to direct the country and direct the reforms that will hopefully take place." Egypt's constitution, however, mandates that if the president steps down, the speaker of the parliament assumes power, not the vice president. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Mubarak could deputize Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, to take control but for that to happen under the current constitution, Mubarak would have to retain the title of president. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The secretary-general of Egypt's ruling party confirmed that a transition was indeed underway. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">But Hossam Badrawi, a prominent doctor who was appointed to the ruling party's post last Saturday, he said did not know whether Mubarak intended to relinquish power Thursday. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Badrawi indicated that the transition process had been accelerated but he was unclear exactly when Mubarak might step down. He said certain constitutional reforms have to be implemented before the president can relinquish power. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">He said he believed Mubarak's words would "accommodate the protesters." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"They won," he said. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The comments came as pressure on Mubarak's regime intensified throughout the day. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The mass demonstrations, despite stern government warnings of military intervention, remained relentless Thursday and thousands of workers in vital industries walked off their jobs in a show of solidarity with demonstrators demanding change. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The enthusiasm of the wildly cheering, boisterous crowds peaked Thursday evening in Cairo's Tahrir Square as reports circulated that their demand that Mubarak leave immediately might soon be met. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The military remained out in force and many believe Egypt's future hinges on the role it will play. Senior military officers were meeting Thursday to discuss "what can be achieved to preserve the homeland." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Panetta reiterated the crucial role of the military. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"The loyalty of the military is now something we have to pay attention to because it is not always one that will respond to what a dictator may or may not want," Panetta said. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Earlier in the day, protesting lawyers toppled barricades near Abdeen Palace, the former home of Egypt's monarchy and a symbol of power. Armed police, who had disappeared from the streets of Cairo as the uprising gained momentum, waited behind metal fences. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">But the police fled and the crowd surged amid the roar of thunder on a rainy day. "God is great," they chanted. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Unable to enter the palace -- which was under heavy army protection -- the group of lawyers headed to Tahrir Square, where on the 17th day of the revolt, massive crowds again gathered to call for the immediate departure of Mubarak. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The demonstrations were galvanized earlier in the week by the words and tears of freed cyberactivist Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a reluctant hero of Egypt's uprising. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Ghonim, on leave from his marketing job with the search engine Google in Dubai, was seized by security forces and held for 10 days before being released. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Credited with starting a Facebook page that triggered the protests, Ghonim said on Twitter Thursday: "Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Mubarak's foes were re-energized again Thursday by strikes called by petroleum, railway and telecommunications employees seeking better compensation. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Oil workers demanded transparency in executive salaries, said Hamdi Abdel-Aziz, a spokesman for the petroleum ministry. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">National Railway Council employees called for longer contracts, prompting a pledge to extend them from their leaders. Some did not return to work Thursday, said Mostafa Qinawi, head of the Railway Council. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Employees of the steel industry and the Suez Canal Port Authority also took to the streets to demand better salaries, said the state-run al-Ahram newspaper. That sparked fears that the Suez Canal -- a significant oil transport hub and major revenue source for Egypt -- would shut down and send oil prices skyrocketing. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Egypt's finance minister said the nation will "do its utmost best" to ensure the canal remains open. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"All precautions are taken to prevent any sabotage from outside to the Suez Canal," Samir Hadwan told CNN. "The Suez Canal is safe and the Egyptian Army -- I don't talk on their behalf -- but I can assure you it will do whatever is in its power to keep that open." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest, street cleaners and administrative staff went on strike over what they say is a salary freeze. At least 1,000 engineers protested contracts and financial compensations, officials said. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Thursday's demonstrations unfolded with vigor despite escalating fears of a government crackdown. Key government officials have sought to portray an immediate departure for Mubarak as a recipe for absolute mayhem and warned of military intervention. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">That could lead to a "dangerous" situation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in two interviews Wednesday with PBS' "Newshour" and Al-Arabiya television. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"Do we want the armed forces to assume the responsibility of stabilizing the nation through imposing martial law and the army in the streets?" Aboul Gheit said on PBS. "For the army to rule, to step in, to put its friends on the scene, that would be a very dangerous possibility." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">He said the president will not relinquish power immediately because his interest is to protect the stability of the nation. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"He thinks that it would entail chaos and it would entail violence and it would entail also opportunities for those who would wish to act in a manner to threaten the state, the stability of the country and society," Aboul Gheit said. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Human Rights Watch has been deeply critical of the government's handling of the crisis. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"Instead of running scared, the regime is fighting back with both words and violence to quash its opponents, portraying the opposition as a foreign-backed, un-Egyptian group of conspirators," the monitoring group said in a statement Wednesday. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The group has documented 302 deaths since the January 25 rally that ignited Egypt's revolt.

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