According to a White House summary of a conversation between
Vice President Joe Biden and Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, among the
steps the Egyptian government is "prepared to accept" and which the
U.S. government is supporting includes: "Restraining the Ministry of
Interior's conduct by immediately ending the arrests, harassment, beating, and
detention of journalists, and political and civil society activists, and by
allowing freedom of assembly and expression."
The White House said that and other measures, including no
reprisals against opposition protesters "are what the broad opposition is
calling for and what the government is saying it is prepared to accept,"
and are among the topics Biden and Suleiman talked about in the call Tuesday.
Biden called for "immediate and irreversible progress,"
including action on the pledges the Egyptian government has made.
Al Jazeera was reporting Tuesday that there continued to be
thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square despite the
concessions. Many have vowed to stay there until Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak resigns, not just reforms, the news organization said.
Mubarak said the government would investigate attacks on
journalists and others, one of a number of reforms he has pledged in an effort
to quell the protests.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented over 140attacks and detentions of journalists covering the protests.
