Griff Witte
The Washington Post
January 29, 2011
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators swarmed central Cairo on Saturday in the largest demonstration yet against the rule of the country’s longtime autocratic leader, President Hosni Mubarak. The crowd went unchallenged by troops, who, in extraordinary scenes unfolding around the capital’s central Tahrir Square, smiled and shook hands with protesters and invited them up onto their tanks.
Meanwhile, Mubarak named a vice president for the first time since coming to power 30 years ago, a government spokesman said – an apparent step toward setting up a successor other than his son, Gamal, whom he had appeared to be grooming for the post, despite public opposition. Mubarak chose as his deputy his intelligence chief and close confidant Omar Suleiman.
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