Page 5 - Me Egypt News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

So we have the hindsight of near history. was it a good thing that hosni mubarak stepped down? >> well, the outcome was inevitable. the people of egypt had divided themselves from the regime, there was no other outcome that could be imagined. we may have wanted to see an orderly transition, and it was because the army stepped in it is proved to be reasonably orderly, though huge questions remain. as the previous report just indicated, egypt's on the path to democracy, has not fully arrived there yet. jon: all right. so what if democracy in egypt brings us the election dominated by the muslim b...

Mike, i know we're expecting to hear something about the economic aspects of this speech. tell us about that and what else we might be looking for. >> reporter: well, jon, the white house recognizes with these people taking to the streets in tunisia, egypt, elsewhere in the middle east they're, obviously, unhappy about their political situation, political representation, but they're also wildly unhappy about their economic opportunities. a very young population across the middle east, the majority of the people under the age of 30, and unemployment in the region is about at a third. and so the...

Government's elected to its international undertakings. notably, its peace with israel. and its position in the middle east, its historic position on the stage of regional politics means we've got to deal with it. now, i believe personally that the instinct for democracy is now so strong in egypt that whoever comes to power will have to respond to that, and if that party in power does not, it will not survive in power. jon: there's a great deal of concern, obviously, about egypt's peace treaty with israel, the result of the camp david accords. do you see any new egyptian government abrogating ...

Already troubled political situation. we don't need that. so we're going to have to be attentive. the united states doesn't have to buy egypt's way out. there are many others in the world. we also have resources that are committed. you need two strategies, a short-term strategy to help egypt through a short-term problem; a balance of payments,e sure she can import the food, keep her industries churning while she gets herself through the political changes and back on her feet. then she needs a longer term strategy to begin to build the institutions and policies and deeper-reaching economic proj...

President. we appreciate your insight as always, sir. thank you. >> pleasure. jon: well, it was one of the first dominoes to fall in the mideast uprisings, but change seems to be coming slowly to egypt after the end of hosni mubarak's three-decade iron-fisted rule there. more than three months later, a new report finds egyptian leaders still abusing human rights. today amnesty international released a report insisting reform is desperately needed there. the human rights organization claims there is evidence egypt continues to restrict freedom of assembly, engages in the torture of detainees an...