Britain urges Egyptian government to yield to 'legitimate' demands

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

London - The Egyptian government should respond to demands for reform and greater transparency expressed by the recent large- scale demonstrations, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.

"Clearly, in so many of these countries people do have legitimate grievances, which are economic and political," said Hague in a BBC radio interview.

"While every country is different, and we shouldn't try to dictate what they should do, in general I do think it's important in this situation to respond positively to legitimate demands for reform, to move towards openness, transparency and greater political freedom," he said.

"That would be my advice to Egyptian leaders," he added.

Hague said he had already urged the Egyptian government to stop the clampdown on social networking sites.

"I would urge the Egyptian government, and I have urged the Egyptian government, to respect rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. It would be futile over time to try to suppress such things."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364479,government-yield-legitimate-demands.html.