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International News Title: Western Powers Push Mubarak To Fulfill Vows, Call For 'Free' Elections (CNN) -- Several Western powers banded together Saturday in urging Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to do all he can to prevent bloodshed and speedily fulfill his promises of reform. The heads of England, France and Germany joined their counterpart in the United States on Saturday in calling on Egypt's leader to institute substantive police changes in short order as well as new, open elections. "It is essential that the further political, economic and social reforms President Mubarak has promised are implemented fully and quickly, and meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people," said a joint statement issued by British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The Egyptian people have ... a longing for a just and better future," the statement continued. "We urge President Mubarak to embark on a process of transformation, which should be reflected in a board-based government and in free and fair elections." Acknowledging the "moderating role" played by Mubarak in the Middle East, the Western leaders urged him to "show the same moderation" in Egypt and allow people to demonstrate peacefully. They also called for "full respect for human rights and democratic freedoms, including freedom of expression and communication." Meanwhile, Washington continued Saturday to keep up pressure on the Egyptian leader, on the same day he announced a new deputy among other Cabinet changes. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted that the Egyptian government "can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat." He added that Mubarak's "words pledging reform must be followed by action." "With protesters still on the streets" in Egypt, he wrote, "we remain concerned about the potential for violence and again urge restraint on all sides." The people of Egypt "no longer accept the status quo," Crowley added. "They are looking to their government for a meaningful process to foster real reform." President Barack Obama said earlier that he had spoken with Mubarak after the Egyptian president made a televised speech Friday. Mubarak, in his address, said he understands "these legitimate demands of the people and I truly understand the depth of their worries and burdens, and I will not part from them ever and I will work for them every day." Obama said he told Mubarak "he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise." "Violence will not address the grievances of the Egyptian people," Obama said in a televised appearance Friday. "Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away." Members of Obama's diplomatic and national security teams, including Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a two-hour discussion on Egypt Saturday morning, according to White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. The president was scheduled to get an update on the situation later, according to Vietor. British Foreign Secretary William Hague, meanwhile, said in a statement that his government remains "deeply concerned about the level of violence we have witnessed over the past few days. We call on the government to exercise restraint and on the Egyptian people to pursue their legitimate grievances peacefully." Referring to Mubarak's speech, Hague said, "We call on him now to listen urgently to the aspirations expressed by the Egyptian people. He must seize this moment to make these reforms real and visible and to base them on the universal values that are the right of people in all countries." Hague said Britain is working with its EU partners and other allies "to deliver a clear coordinated message about our expectations of President Mubarak and in particular the need for him to take responsibility to deliver change. Peaceful reform, not repression, must be the way forward." There were protests Saturday outside the Egyptian embassy in London. Between 200 and 300 people demonstrated in support of Egyptian protesters.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Make it more like the Beacon of Freedom: Iraq: Iraq's Interior Ministry officer, policeman, killed by unknown gunmen: 1/30/2011 9:14 AM BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi Interior Ministry officer and a policeman have been killed by a group of unknown gunmen, using silencer guns in west Baghdad's al-Mansour and Uteifiya districts on Saturday night, according to a security source on Sunday. "A group of unknown gunmen have assassinated an Interior Ministry officer, with a colonel-rank in west Baghdad's al-Mansour district, whilst another group killed a policeman in west Baghdad's Uteifiya district, using silencer guns in both attacks, on Saturday night," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The Iraqi capital of Baghdad had been witnessed attacks on government officers and policemen, by unknown gunmen, using silcencer-guns.
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