As death toll rises, Mubarak names VP, pyramids closed

CAIRO (AP)

With protests raging, Egypt's president named his intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president today, setting the stage for a successor as chaos engulfed the capital. Soldiers stood by - a few even joining the demonstrators - and the death toll from five days of anti-government fury rose sharply to 74. Saturday's fast-moving developments across the north African nation marked a sharp turning point in President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule of Egypt.

Residents and shopkeepers in affluent neighborhoods boarded up their houses and stores against looters, who roamed the streets with knives and sticks, stealing what they could and destroying cars, windows and street signs. Gunfire rang out in some neighborhoods.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers fanned out across the city of 18 million, guarding key government buildings, and major tourist and archaeological sites. Among those singled out for special protection was the Egyptian Museum, home to some of the country's most treasured antiquities, and the Cabinet building, where would-be looters broke inand ripped the heads off two mummies and damaged about 10 small artifacts before being caught and detained by soldiers, Egypt's antiquities chief said today.

Zahi Hawass said the vandals did not manage to steal any of the museum's antiquities, and the prized collection was now safe and under military guard.

The military closed the pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo - Egypt's premier tourist site.

Soldiers made no moves against protesters, even after a curfew came and went and the crowds swelled in the streets, demanding an end to Mubarak's rule and no handoff to the son he had been grooming to succeed him.

"This is the revolution of people of all walks of life," read black graffiti scrolled on one army tank in Tahrir Square. "Mubarak, take your son and leave," it said.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama issued a plea for restraint in Egypt after meeting with national security aides today to assess the Cairo government's response to the widespread protests threatening the stability of the country. A White House statement said Obama "reiterated our focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint, supporting universal rights, and supporting concrete steps that advance political reform within Egypt."