Clinton Visits Tahrir Square
Politico reports:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday walked through Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where barely a month ago Egyptians celebrated the fall of president Hosni Mubarak after weeks of protests there.
“To see where this revolution happened, after all that it has meant to the world, is extraordinary for me,” Clinton said. She toured the square for about 15 minutes with American and Egyptian security guards, waving and shaking hands.
“Thank you for walking the streets of Tahrir,” one man told her, AFP reported. Another man lifted his daughter and prompted her to say, “I love you,” to Clinton, who grasped the girl’s hand.
But not all Egyptians were so welcoming of Clinton. A coalition of youth groups formed in the wake of the protests, the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, turned down an invitation to meet with the secretary of state because of “the U.S. administration’s weak position at the start of the revolution due to its close relationship with the ousted president,” they said in a statement posted on their website.
Clinton also visited the U.S. embassy in Cairo, where she spoke to American and Egyptian employees.
“The pyramids are magnificent but nowhere near as magnificent as what you have already done,” she said, before calling on them to protect what they have achieved. “No one is permitted to hijack this revolution, no one is permitted to turn the clock back on this revolution, no one is permitted to claim it for only one group of Egyptians and exclude other Egyptians.”
She added: “That will be the challenge, and we will help in any way possible.”
Click here to read more.
