In break with U.S., Ottawa backs gradual handover in Egypt

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The Harper government has endorsed the go-slow transition plan set out by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, signalling that Mideast stability and peace with Israel are its paramount concerns while other Western nations push for faster change.

Canada's warnings that a rushed change in power could lead to instability - Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon insisted that "a vacuum does not mean transition" - came on a day of bloody confrontations in Cairo on Thursday.

Gangs of pro-Mubarak supporters targeted journalists for bloody beatings, and security forces detained dozens of foreign journalists, including two from The Globe and Mail who were held by the army for three hours and then released.

But while pro-democracy protesters vowed to press on until Egypt's President steps down, Mr. Mubarak emerged to dig in his heels in a television interview, insisting he can't leave before September because the country would descend into "chaos."

Last night, however, The New York Times reported that the Obama administration is working with Egyptian officials on a plan for Mr. Mubarak to resign now and hand power to his vice-president, Omar Suleiman, a long-time official in the regime.

Earlier in the day Mr. Suleiman had blamed foreigners for whipping up opposition, but offered to initiate constitutional changes over several months while Mr. Mubarak stays on and to talk with opposition figures - a process rejected by many in the opposition and denounced by the United States as being neither credible enough nor broad enough in scope.

In Ottawa, though, Mr. Cannon had emphasized that Canada's chief concern is for a stable transition, one that protects Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, and indicated support for Mr. Suleiman's plan for months of step-by-step changes while Mr. Mubarak remains.

"I think the question is what's next. A vacuum does not mean transition. The transition must be orderly, we have said it from the beginning. And these things must be settled by the Egyptians themselves," Mr. Cannon told reporters outside the Commons.

"There were steps, I understand, that were undertaken this morning by the vice-president. I think these steps form part of this orderly transition effort toward reforms, and ultimately an election."

Mr. Cannon did call for a transition to democracy, but did not emphasize speed. When asked whether he wants an "immediate transition," he replied: "An orderly transition that should bring us to the reforms we've talked about."

That is different tone from several other Western nations. On Wednesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that when the United States calls for transition to begin now, "now means yesterday." On Thursday, the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain called for democratic transition to begin "immediately."

The unwillingness to call for Mr. Mubarak to quit now drew criticism from NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, who argued Mr. Mubarak's refusal to cede power is increasing the likelihood of chaos, not lessening it. "I think Canada is letting down the pro-democracy forces by not being declarative," he said.

But the staunchly pro-Israel Conservatives are clearly placing emphasis on other fears: that in a rushed transition, Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood could take power, or that a new government might scrap the 1979 peace treaty with Israel that Mr. Mubarak's government has honoured. Mr. Cannon said recognition of Israel and respect for the treaty are key to Canada.

"These are things that are uppermost, because as I had mentioned at the very outset, what we're looking for, from the Canadian government, our position is to be able to promote stability in the region, because that becomes extremely important in terms of global security," he said.

Israel has expressed concerns that a quick change could create a new destabilizing adversary. And in Ottawa, the Canada-Israel Committee has lobbied MPs not to push for rapid regime change, arguing that Egypt's democratic organizations are so weak that only the Muslim Brotherhood would be able to take power now.

"Yes to democracy, but let's keep stability to make sure that what emerges is not worse than what is there," said Richard Marceau, a senior adviser at the committee. "It's one of the messages that we've been sending to every party."

Mr. Cannon also emphasized the need for the next Egyptian government to respect minority rights, and to adopt electoral and constitutional changes.

In a day of violence and targeting of journalists, Mr. Cannon called for all detained journalists to be released, and said his officials called in the Egyptian ambassador to insist the government should ensure that journalists are not intimidated.

He did not, as other governments have, point the finger at Mr. Mubarak's government for encouraging attacks against journalists. But he did issue a warning about the attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators: "If the government of Egypt was in any way involved in instigating attacks against peaceful demonstrators, this would be unacceptable," he said.