US President Barack Obama phoned Israeli, Saudi and Turkish leaders to discuss the crisis in Egypt and their assessment of the quickly evolving situation, the White House said Sunday.
Obama, in Saturday calls to Saudi King Abdullah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders, reiterated his focus on non-violence and restraint, as well as "supporting an orderly transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people," the White House said.
"The president asked each of the leaders that he spoke to for their assessment of the situation, and agreed to stay in close contact going forward."
Obama also spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday and on Sunday with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The US president received a briefing Sunday from members of his national security staff on the worst crisis in decades in one of Washington's key Middle East allies.
The Saudi press agency says King Abdullah has told President Barack Obama that there should be no bargaining about Egypt's stability and the security of its people.
SPA said Sunday that Obama phoned the king in Morocco, where he is recuperating from surgery, and that both leaders were not happy with the chaotic situation and looting.
It said the king talked Saturday to President Hosni Mubarak and assured him that the Saudi government and people stands with the Egyptian government and people.
SPA said Mubarak assured the king that ``the situation is stable' and that Egypt was determined to deter attempts to cause disorder
President Hosni Mubarak, clinging on despite unprecedented demands for an end to his 30-year rule, met on Sunday with the military which is seen as holding the key to Egypt's future while in Cairo, protesters defied a curfew.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday called on embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to hold free and fair elections and said Washington was not considering a cut-off of aid to Cairo for now. Appearing on a slew of US news programs, Clinton pressed Mubarak for sweeping reforms in response to unprecedented mass protests but urged an orderly democratic transition to avoid a result like that of Iran which she called a "faux democracy."
"We want to see free and fair elections and we suspect that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in Egypt right now," Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei put pressure on the United States on Sunday to support calls for President Hosni Mubarak to step down, saying "life support to the dictator" must end.
In a series of interviews with US television networks from Cairo, ElBaradei also said he had a mandate to negotiate a national unity government and would soon reach out to the army, at the heart of power in Egypt for more than a half century.
ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate for his work with the UN nuclear agency, said it was only a matter of time before Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for three decades, stepped down. He urged US President Barack Obama to take a stand.
"It is better for President Obama not to appear that he is the last one to say to President Mubarak, 'It's time for you to go," he told CNN.
ElBaradei, a possible candidate in Egypt's presidential election this year, dismissed US calls for Mubarak to enact sweeping democratic and economic reforms in response to the protests. As the curfew started and was ignored, warplanes and helicopters flew over the square. By late afternoon more army trucks appeared in a show of military force but no one moved.
"Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, both of you are agents of the Americans," shouted protesters, referring to the appointment on Saturday of intelligence chief Suleiman as vice president, the first time Mubarak has appointed a deputy in 30 years of office.
Mubarak held talks with Suleiman, Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Chief of Staff Sami al-Anan and others. The turmoil, in which more than 100 people have died, has sent shock waves through the Middle East where other autocratic rulers may face similar challenges, and unsettled financial markets around the globe as well as Egypt's allies in the West.
Egypt shut its crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday as countrywide protests spread to the border area, and five Palestinian militants fled a Cairo prison back to the Islamist-ruled territory, officials said.
The measure came a day after armed clashes were reported in the border town of Rafah, on the Egyptian side of the border to where protests against President Hosni Mubarak spread at the weekend. There were no reports of any casualties in Rafah.
Eight Gaza militants were among inmates who fled Cairo's Abu Zaabal prison as it was raided on Saturday by Egyptians amid spreading chaos in the Egyptian capital. Five of them managed to get back into Gaza. In Tunisia, Thousands turned out Sunday to welcome Muslim leader Rached Ghannouchi after more than 20 years in exile, as he eyed a political future for his Ennahda movement after the fall of Tunisia's regime.
"God is great!" Ghannouchi cried out, raising his arms in triumph as he walked into the arrivals hall of Tunis airport, with thousands of cheering supporters crowding around him before driving off to visit his family.
The crowd intoned a religious song in honour of the Prophet Mohammed, as supporters held up olive branches, flowers and copies of the Koran. "I am so happy to be bringing him back home. I never thought I would see my brother again alive in Tunisia," his sister, Jamila, told AFP.
The 69-year-old said he was elated as he checked in for his historic flight at London's Gatwick airport, where he posed with a Tunisian flag and embraced relatives before boarding for a country that he has not seen since 1989.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was closely watching events in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979. It has served a key role in Israel-Palestinian peace talks.
Meanwhile, An Air India plane left for Cairo Sunday to evacuate 300 Indian nationals as Egypt's anti-government protests entered their sixth day. "The special flight will carry 300 Indians, mainly women and children, from Cairo to India today," read a statement from India's foreign ministry.
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