Egypt Protesters Win Free Press, Concessions

But Mubarak doesn't agree to leave
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 6, 2011 11:56 AM CST
Egypt Protesters Win Free Press, Concessions
An Egyptian anti-Mubarak protester receives care from a volunteer nurse next to Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear...   (Emilio Morenatti)

From today's meetings between Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and various protest groups comes a pretty significant list of concessions the regime is granting. The down low, as per the AP:

  • Free press: The government promised it would stop impeding the media, Internet access, and text messaging.
  • Protesters: Cairo agreed to release detainees held since protests began and refrain from harassing protesters.
  • Lifting of emergency laws: In place since Mubarak took power, these allow the government to detain people at will and largely suspend civil liberties. The government agreed to roll them back as soon as security returns.

The major concession opposition groups did not get was, of course, the departure of Hosni Mubarak. But, says an opposition rep, "We are determined to press on until our number one demand is met. The regime is retreating. It is making more concessions everyday." (More Egypt stories.)

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