European leaders: Egypt transition must start now

[February 03, 2011]  PARIS (AP) -- The leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain on Thursday put pressure on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for a political transition that "must start now."

A joint statement from the five European leaders said they are watching the unrest in Egypt with deep concern and condemned "all those who use or encourage violence, which will only aggravate the political crisis in Egypt." The statement from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero urged a "quick and orderly transition to a broad-based government." "That transition process must start now," it said. The statement came after automatic weapons fire pounded the anti-government protest camp in Cairo's Tahrir Square. It was a dramatic escalation of what appeared to be a well-orchestrated series of assaults on the demonstrators. At least three protesters were killed. Later, Egyptian army tanks and soldiers moved to end violence between anti-government protesters and Mubarak supporters after standing by for nearly a day. Mubarak has refused to step down. Protesters have accused his regime of hiring thugs and plainclothes police to crush their nine-day-old movement. Separately, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Thursday that Egyptian authorities are accountable if they fail to protect peaceful demonstrators. Journalists covering Egypt's unrest have been beaten, hit with pepper spray and threatened by Mubarak loyalists. The European leaders' statement said such attacks are "completely unacceptable." [Associated Press] Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.