Mubarak’s plans to stay on angers Valley Egyptians

By Denise Dick | February 11, 2011 at 12:04a.m.

By Karl henkel and Denise Dick

Youngstown

While uncertainty — as well as President Hosni Mubarak — continues to reign as dawn broke today in Egypt, Mahoning County Egyptians expressed disappointment and anger at the ruler’s decision to stay in office.

“I’m sure at this moment 100 percent of people in Egypt are mad,” said Khaled Abdelnadi, 28, of Youngstown. “He is getting the people even more angry with this speech. I have no idea what the purpose of the speech was.”

After broadcast and print reports earlier Thursday predicted that Mubarak would step down, he instead announced his plan to remain in office until September.

Walid El-Shalabi, 36, of Boardman, said he was skeptical about Mubarak’s possible resignation throughout the day and was disheartened at the speech, which Mubarak gave at approximately 11 p.m. Egyptian time.

“He didn’t think about Egypt or anyone else,” El-Shalabi said. “He only thought about himself. It’s all about how long he can stay in power.”

Hannah Patten, a Youngstown State University senior from Egypt, watched Mubarak’s speech streaming on the Internet Thursday.

“Lots of people thought he was leaving,” she said. “A lot of people are disappointed.”

Patten said that part of her is disappointed, too, because Mubarak’s decision to stay in office means the riots are going to continue.

“A lot of people wanted him to leave, but some are worried about who would take his place,” she said.

There’s concern that if the Army takes power, curfew will be imposed on the people.

Patten’s parents live in Cairo not far from the heart of the protests. They stayed indoors Thursday, she said.

El-Shalabi, who moved to the U.S. from Egypt in 1999, said he thinks the military could play a role in whether Mubarak remains in power until his term ends in September.

“If the military stands up to him and says, ‘we can’t secure you,’ then there will be change,” El-Shalabi said. “If they [the military] go with the people, it will be peaceful. If they go against the people, we’ll have a bloodshed.

“We trust the military. They aren’t going to do something like that.”

Patten, a media communications and advertising major, worries about protests getting worse.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do now,” Patten said. “I don’t know if they’ll try to keep pushing him to see if he breaks more. I hope it stays peaceful.”