Time to begin transition now: Obama Moussa, ElBaradei eye presidency Egypt PM rules out use of forceThe premier, in an interview with Al-Arabiya television, excerpts of which were carried by the official MENA news agency, “ruled out” an early exit for Mubarak, saying “we need President Mubarak to stay for legislative reasons.” Suleiman has offered negotiations with all political forces, including the protest leaders and regime's top foe – the Muslim Brotherhood. On the agenda are constitutional changes needed to ensure a free vote ahead of September presidential elections to replace Mubarak, who since protests began has publicly committed for the first time that he would not seek re-election. Egypt on Friday shortened a curfew imposed in three cities amid anti-regime protests to between 7 P.M. (1700 GMT) and 6 A.M., cutting the restrictions by four hours, state television said. Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said Friday he could run in Egypt's presidential elections if the Egyptian people asked him to, denying a report in an Austrian newspaper that he would not run. “This is not true,” ElBaradei said in a phone interview with Al Jazeera. “If the Egyptian people want me to continue the change process, I will not disappoint the Egyptian people.” ElBaradei repeated the protesters' condition that Mubarak must leave immediately before there can be negotiations with the government over the nation's future. “He should hear the clear voice coming from the people and leave in dignity,” ElBaradei told a press conference. “The quicker he leaves in dignity the better it is for everybody.” One self-professed potential candidate – Arab League chief Amr Moussa – appeared in the square Friday, his convoy greeted by chants of “we want you as president, we want you as president.” Asked earlier by France's Europe 1 radio if he would consider a role in the transitional government or eventually running for president, Moussa replied, “Why say no?” The Arabic news network Al-Jazeera said a “gang of thugs” stormed its offices in continuation of attacks on journalists by regime supporters that erupted Thursday. It said the attackers burned the office and damaged equipment. The editor of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood's website, Abdel-Galil El-Sharnoubi, told the AP that policemen stormed its office Friday morning and arrested 10 to 15 of its journalists. Also clashes with sticks and fists between pro- and anti-government demonstrators erupted in two towns in southern Egypt. The prime minister and the vice president have both said the government made a commitment not to chase the protesters out of the square. Various proposals for a post-Mubarak transition floated by the Americans, the regime and the protesters share some common ground, but with one elephant-sized difference: The protesters say nothing can be done before Mubarak leaves. A number of celebrities of Egyptian cinema and TV joined the march, including Sherihan, a beloved screen beauty from the 1980s and early 1990s who largely disappeared from the public eye because of health issues. “This is really a popular revolution, it's civilized and honorable,” she told Al-Jazeera TV. Mohammed Rafat Al-Tahtawi, the spokesman of state-run Al-Azhar Mosque, the country's pre-eminent Islamic institution, announced on Al-Jazeera that he had resigned from his position to join the protesters. 15,000 Saudis return from Cairo The Saudi Embassy in Cairo has said that since the beginning of the airlift from Egypt up to Friday, over 15,000 Saudis had returned to the Kingdom on aircraft ordered by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Ibrahim Al-Hameed, head of the embassy's Saudi Nationals Affairs department, said that 4,300 Saudis had returned home on scheduled flights. Al-Hameed said that he had cut short his holiday and returned to Cairo from Riyadh to help his colleagues handle the situation facing Saudis in the country.
