Obama salutes Egypt change, notes ‘difficult days ahead’

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama declared Friday the peaceful departure of Hosni Mubarak as Egypt’s president marked “a beginning” holding the promise of greater democracy for the world’s most-populous Arab nation. But he added soberly, “There will be difficult days ahead.”

Indeed, while Obama and other U.S. officials voiced optimism, they also were concerned over who will end up in control of Egypt and whether the United States will emerge with the kind of stable partner it badly needs in the volatile Middle East.

Also at issue: whether the unrest that brought down Mubarak will spread to other nations in the Middle East, including oil-rich autocratic neighbors, and whether the Egyptian military will make good on its pledge of promoting free and fair elections.

At the White House, Obama’s words were alternately celebratory and cautious after Mubarak ended three decades of iron rule and turned over his authority to the military.

“Today belongs to the people of Egypt,” Obama declared at the White House. In Cairo, Egyptians celebrated into the night.

Obama’s only mention of Mubarak, a longtime strong U.S. ally, was at the beginning of his remarks: “By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change,” he said.

Obama singled out the Egyptian military for praise, saying it acted helpfully as a “caretaker” in defusing the situation and securing the country.