Obama calls Mubarak moves inadequate, warns against crackdown

Reporting from Washington —  Caught off guard by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s efforts to cling to power, President Obama on Thursday condemned Mubarak’s latest concessions to protesters as inadequate and again warned against a violent crackdown.

In his strongest criticism of the Egyptian government to date, Obama aligned himself more firmly with the protesters in a lengthy written statement that did not mention Mubarak by name but indicated a deepening divide between the White House and the Egyptian leader.

“The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient,” Obama wrote after meeting with his senior national security advisors late Thursday.

U.S. officials were hopeful earlier in the day that Mubarak was planning to announce that he was stepping down, only to see that hope dashed when the Egyptian leader declared that he was delegating authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman but planned to remain in office until September.

The administration’s growing frustration with Mubarak more than two weeks into the crisis was underlined when Obama urged the Egyptian government to “move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made, and to spell out in clear and unambiguous language the step-by-step process that will lead to democracy.”

Several U.S. officials warned late Thursday that Mubarak’s intransigence would only harden protesters’ demands and probably spark even larger demonstrations Friday.

“They should be concerned that they may be miscalculating,” said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. “There are reasons to fear a strong reaction.”

Increasingly, U.S. officials appear worried that the violence seen in the first week of the protests will erupt again if the protesters refuse to back down and the regime unleashes its security forces.

“There must be restraint by all parties,” Obama said. “Violence must be forsaken. It is imperative that the government not respond to the aspirations of their people with repression or brutality.”

U.S. officials said they still saw the Egyptian military as a potential key to resolving the conflict, despite signs that many senior military leaders remained closely aligned with Mubarak.

Meanwhile, other U.S. officials were contacting Egyptian counterparts, seeking to clarify what Mubarak meant when he said he would delegate authority to Suleiman and also his calls for amending the Egyptian Constitution.

U.S. officials said the confusing signals from Cairo about Mubarak’s intentions suggested splits within the top levels of the Egyptian government about whether the president should stay or go.

The Obama administration appeared uncertain about events all day. CIA Director Leon Panetta told a congressional committee Thursday morning that he had heard reports that Mubarak was planning to step down.

“There is a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down this evening,” Panetta told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, “which would be significant in terms of where this, hopefully, orderly transition in Egypt takes place.”

Later, on a visit to Michigan, Obama also seemed to suggest that the Egyptian government was about to make a move toward reform, saying that “what is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold.”

“It’s a moment of transformation that’s taking place because the people of Egypt are calling for change,” Obama said.

But White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, pressed to confirm Panetta’s information that Mubarak was about to step down, demurred, saying the situation was “fluid.”

Asked about Panetta’s comments after Mubarak’s speech, a senior intelligence official said, “Director Panetta was referring to press reports,” not to intelligence information, when he said Mubarak was likely to step down.

Even so, Panetta’s comments are potentially an embarrassment for the agency, which was sharply questioned by several members at the hearing about whether it had failed to predict the upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia.

paul.richter@latimes.com

david.cloud@latimes.com

Times staff writer Peter Nicholas in Washington contributed to this report.