The highest US official to visit since Mubarak’s 30-year rule ended on Feb. 11, Clinton sought to position the United States as a partner to Egypt and the protest movement despite Washington’s long support for the authoritarian ruler.
Bitterness lingers among some Egyptians over the United States’ alliance with Mubarak and what is widely seen here as its initial ambivalence toward the protests that swept him from power. But the people Clinton met in the square were friendly.
Flanked by security men, Clinton shook hands with surprised pedestrians including a middle-aged woman in a headscarf and an unshaven man who called out “Welcome to Tahrir Square.”
The US secretary of state, who described Mubarak’s government as stable a few weeks before its collapse, shook the man’s hand and replied “Hi. How are you? Nice to see you.”
Speaking later, Clinton said she was confident Egypt would build a successful democracy and future generations would point to the mass demonstrations in the square as “one of the most important historic turning points.”
“The pyramids are magnificent but nowhere near as magnificent as what you have already done,” she said. Speaking to reporters during her roughly 15-minute stroll in the square, Clinton said, “It was very exciting and moving for me to go to Tahrir Square and to have some sense of what those amazing days must have been like here in Cairo.” In the early days of the uprising, which began on Jan. 25, Tahrir Square was the scene of violent clashes between demonstrators and police who failed to quell the revolt with their heavy-handed tactics.
The police were then withdrawn from the streets and the army deployed, surrounding the square with tanks but staying on the sidelines. When protesters were charged by Mubarak supporters on camels and horses on Feb. 2, the army looked on.
Despite the clashes, demonstrations became both protests and festive gatherings of hundreds of thousands. After Mubarak quit on Feb. 11, with the military taking control, hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate his departure.
Clinton met Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the 75-year-old general commander of the armed forces who served as Mubarak’s defense minister for two decades and who heads the military council that now rules the country.
She also sat down with the country’s new interim prime minister, Essam Sharaf, and stressed her desire to help Egypt with its democratic transition as the military council gives way to elected leaders in the next six months. Clinton said Egypt’s task was to carry through on the uprising to build a functioning, deeply-rooted democracy.
“To make sure that all that work and all that sacrifice ... is not in vain, that no one is permitted to hijack this revolution, no one is permitted to turn the clock back on this revolution, no one is permitted to claim it for only one group of Egyptians and to try to exclude other Egyptians. That will be the challenge,” she said in a speech at the US Embassy. “We will help in every way possible.”
