There’s a rumor that US President Barack Obama has told the Egyptian army to put Mubarak down and take over the country. Right now. The White House is in touch with commanders Egypt’s army and is telling them to act against Hosni Mubarak right now.
Western government are using softer words in the open: “the transition to democracy must begin sooner than later” and similar words. In the past few hours, after it seemed that we’re about to see an Egyptian civil war, the open words became stronger. White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs upped his tone:
“Now means now,” Gibbs said at the White House briefing. “The people of Egypt need to see change, the people of Egypt need to see progress”
There are fears that the “pro-Mubarak” protesters, suspected as policemen or loyalists of Mubarak’s party, will increase their violence tomorrow and on Friday. A big anti-government protest is planned for Friday, in the second “day of rage”. This came after Mubarak said he’ll step down in September, and all opposition parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, rejected this.
Currencies aren’t moving yet. It’s a time of low volume. EUR/USD and GBP/USD fell earlier in the day when the violence in Tahrir square was seen all over the world. They recovered afterwards. EUR/USD is above 1.38 once again. The price of oil is stable just under $91 per barrel, according to WTI Crude.
The price of oil will spike higher if this internal conflict or even civil war, spills to other countries in the region, especially Egypt’s eastern neighbor. One leader of the Muslim brotherhood wants war with Israel.