and ♪ >> welcome to the journal iran dw-tv. i am brian thomas in berlin. >> and i have the business news. >> our headlines, expectation and confusion in tahrir square in throughout egypt amid growing reports of president hosni mubarak is about to hand over power. the egyptian army council is in continuous session right now, and a leading nerals is all protest their demands will be met. ♪ >> egyptian president hosni mubarak is expected to address

the nation any time now and give what is widely expected to be his resignation speech, following 17 days of nationwide protests, calling for an end to three decades of authoritarian rule bit of the country's supreme military council has been holding discussions throughout the day. in a televised announcement, the military said it would start taking necessary measures to protect the nation in support the legitimate demands of the people. it was made as the pressure mounts on mubarak. professionals, including lawyers and medical workers,- have been increasingly joining the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of people calling not only for political changes but also for economic changes, including more jobs and lower prices as well. for the latest, let's go live to our cairo correspondent. can you give us an idea of what mubarak is likely to say in a little bit of time? >> we do not know if he is

speaking in the first place. the only thing we know for sure is that the supreme military council met a few hours ago. that is the highest council of the military in egypt. normally, this military who is heading this is hosni mubarak himself. we know hosni moved far it was not present, and it was a very important and very interesting thing. even his vice-president, omar suleiman, was not present in this meeting. in this meeting, they decided that this council is going to permanently meet now in the military communique number one. this is the sign that they say they meet permanently ended the get the communicate's numbers, which means others will follow, more numbers. and means that they are really going to be thinking they will be in charge. which means that probably this military council took over power now from mubarak himself. or at least the military wants

to show that they make independent decisions from mubarak. that is the minimum. >> is it the situation in cairo but also throughout the country and with the military? >> it is for the whole country. what is going on with mubarak is very contradictory. there are reports saying that he is on his way to some kind of internal exile. there are other reports saying he might have left the country. the egyptian television says he is meeting omar suleiman and his prime minister. but of course, looking at of my window, seeing the the presidential guard is occupying the state television, they are dictating to state television what they have to say. so a lot of contradictory things. we do not know where mubarak is. we do not know if he is going to speak. it looks like he is no longer in charge.

what is not clear is what is happening insteaeaof him. because of course, at tahrir square, there were first scenes of celebration. now it has become more quiet. there's a certain fear that the military might take over and move on into some kind of transitional government, but demonstrators on the square do not forget that they want a change of the system, not a change of the face at the top of the state. the question is, is the military fulfiling the demands? will the military get into a dialogue with demonstrators or not? all open questions. i did it is a very open situation in cairo and egypt right now. it looks like it is the last hours of mubarak. what is coming after him is very unclear. >> we're looking at these live pictures right now from tahrir square. our the protesters responding to the military, and say, ok, we're holding on to power and we are going to replace in the interim government?

>> well, their voices from the square saying of this is the case, if the military takes over and not moving on to a transitional time, we're going to stay at the square. so those are the first vces on the square. we have to see how this whole thing is going to develop. >> live from cairo as these events unfold tonight very quickly. in other news, here in germany, chancellor angela merkel and her former foreign minister have been facing tough questions about a nato airstrike in afghanistan back in 2009 in which 140 two people, mainly civilians, were killed. a parliamentary committee is trying to determine at what point in about a high level of civilian casualties. the air strike has been described as the current defense minister as militarily inappropriate. >> angela merkel is the last witness to the question by the committee.

as the then head of government, she was the last in the chain of responsibility for the kunduz heirs bright -- airstrike opposition says she knew more about civilian casualties then she let on. >> on the morning of september 4, the chancellor knew it was highly likely civilians had died. what happened next? how could the defense minister walk around for days claiming the exact opposite? >> ipad september 2009, a german commander in afghanistan ordered an air strike on two tanker trucks that had been hijacked by taliban militants. more than 100 people were killed, many of them civilians. it took months before the government presented a coherent version of the event. earlier, there were tough questions for the foreign minister from that time. the senior social democrat denied he had acted wrongly, a claim rejected by a leading conservative member of the committee. >> senior relatively early on

that there might have been at civilian victims. but he saw no reason to personally inquire take any formal action. >> in her testimony, angela merkel denied accusations of a cover-up. the committee is expected to initial it -- issued the final report on the incident by summer. >> our political correspondent has been following the story closely. what did the chancellor have to say today >> what i should explain briefly is why this is such an emotional issue for germany. it was up until september 2009 that this tragic incident happened in conduce be the most of the german public views the presence in afghanistan as being almost aid workers, the presence of german troops. this conduce into that made them realize this is something like four in all but name. and there were civilian casualties. this suggestion has been made,

particularly by a number of opposition politicians, that the government deliberately could have been involved in election and deliberately tried to suppress the information, keep it from the public. what angela merkel said today, the most important thing she said was she had telephone conversations on the saturday. the incident occurred on friday. on saturday, she had three telephone conversations withm te defense minister, in which she is told by him that the provincial governor, as well as the afghan president hamid karzai, was saying that there were no civilian casualties and he trusted their sources. she counseled him in his telephone conversations not to rule out the possibility of civilian casualties because the information they were receiving was so contradictory. she did give a very good performance. i think she did persuade the

committee that she had advised that defense minister, the then defense minister, not to exclude that information, and on monday, in fact, he corrected his position. and of course, he took the political consequences. he resigned in hiding angela merkel has emerged very strongly from disappearance. i think she has not been harmed by the incident at all. >> thank you for the insights. the events unfolding tonight in tahrir square are creating yet more global ripples, including in the world of commerce. here is that story. >> thank you. the events in egypt could affect markets. we spoke to our correspondent on wall street. i asked how traders in new york were reacting to this possible power shift in cairo. >> what i am hearing is that it is a factor and we could recover from steeper losses from earlier. i mean, there's still a certain

degree of uncertainty in how the power shift will actually happen. but i am told here on the floor that it is a factor that we could recover from a steeper losses. we have not seen a big reaction yet on the commodities market. oil only for a moment came down a bit but then went up to where it stood before. still a certain to amount of uncertainty. but i am hearing that egypt is a factor, that we recovered at one. most of the losses that we saw earlier. >> thank you so much for that update. in other news, no comment on the future until he has spoken personally with chancellor angela merkel. he was touted as next in line is that of the european central bank. eu sources ruled that out on tuesday, claiming that he once -- he once opposed it joined the bank -- at deutsche bank.

>> the bank that is tight- lipped, refusing to comment on the reasons why he might leave xt year or what his future plans are once he does. >> i spoke to the german chancellor, and i assured her that i would not make a statement on that until we have been able to meet for fresh conversation. >> that is news to the chancellor. she was expecting to have a high profile german candidate for the ec be president. now appears he will not be available. he is not denied rumors he is moving to deutsche bank. that has sparked criticism. >> if he wants to move from the bundesbank did deutsche bank, he would have to wait at least one year. he was responsible for oversight. so he knows details about other banks which cannot be used by private institute. >> so it appears his critical

style of economic governance will not affect the purell in the future. is not taking part in franco- german economic talks on friday. >> for more on this and an update on the market, our correspondent sense as this report from frankfurt. >> it was one of these days at the stock market's when traders have not been able to focus on their core business. of course there has been a lot of discussions going on about the chief of the german bundesbank and his future. also, there is the merger between the stock market of frankfurt and new york. shares of the doors to gained by up to 7%. this shows that people appreciate or would appreciate if this merger really would become true. at the end, it was speculation about hosni mubarak and his probable step-wn that lifted

shares and helped the dax to reach a new year high. >> let's take a closer look as some of those market numbers now. in frankfurt, the blue-chip dax closed up words, 7340. euro stoxx 50 finished down, 3025. across the atlantic, the dow jones is currently going down towards -- it is not appearing. there it is. 12,203. and the euro is treading and $1.3627. back to you. >> the big night in berlin. the berlin film festival is kicking off in just a few minutes before the next 10 days, fans across the german capital can get their fill of movies, with nearly 400 films. movie buffs have been getting ready always to snap up the tickets. 16 films are going for the top honor, the golden bear.

italian actress isabella rossellini is part of the jury. "true grit" opens the festival, but it is screening out of the competition. our entertainment correspondent is it down there at the edge of the red carpet. hello. jeff bridges continues his career role, playing the one- night sure of that cannot quite shoot straight. what can you tell us about the film. >> well, jeff bridges, last time he was here, he was playing the dude. now he is playing the duke, for pricing their road john wayne played in the original film. i think this is a bit better. it is really a classic western, i returned to mershon representative read a lot of people thought was dead. the cohen brothers revived it in a credible way.

a very horrible movie. i think it will be a huge success with western fans and all film fans in berlin. >> letter people sang about the iranian director. he was there toa member of the jury but was banned from travelling abroad by the government of tehran. what is the word? >> the jury press conferences morning, there was an empty seat next to the jury president. and it was for the iranian director. of course, he is not here in britain -- in berlin. he is sitting in an iranian jail. he was banned for making movies for another 20 years. berlin has responded by programming a retrospective of his film. so there will be his films all over this festival. there will also be public protests against his imprisonment and calling for an end to state censorship in iran. while the director will not be here, his spirit certainly will be. >> what about controversy this year? it is no stranger to that.

any controversial films out there? >> there quite a few actually. brolin love to have political controversy in its election. -- the berlin gloves to have political controversy. there's a german film about one of germany's most famous terrorists. there have been a lot of films made about her. but this one is different. it looks at the time before she became a terrorist. it is actually a love story about her and her husband. it will be controversial. i think it will be the film that germany's chattering glasses will be talking about this festival. >> ok, thank you for now for the festival. recapping our top story, egyptian president hosni mubarak looks likely to step down. we're getting is live pictures right now from cairo. more than two weeks of protests. but the islamist brotherhood opposition says it looks like there might have been a military coup. we will of course be keeping you

up-to-date on the evidence as they unfold throughout the evening. stay with us here at dw-tv.

>> welcome back. we return now to egypt, where there are increasing signs that egyptian president hosni mubarak may be relinquishing power in the hours that this evening the egyptian military has made a televised announcement, saying that it would of a good start taking necessary measures to protect the nation in support the legitimate demands of the egyptian people." that statement made on state television came as pressure mounts on, 82 years old, to end his 30-year old rule. yes rejoined now from cairo by our correspondent. can you tell us, what is president mubarak likely to do in the next few hours? can you fill us in at all? there's a lot of confusion. >> there is a lot of confusion

and a lot of rumors. first of all, he is supposed to appear on state television to give his third speech in the last two weeks. there rumors already about that. is it a pre-recorded message or is it live? nobody knows. is he still in cairo or is he elsewhere? people say he might have already left the country. nobody really knows what is going on. there were all so confusing signs coming from the regime. there was the information minister who said earlier that mubarak was not going to step down. and everything we have been hearing on the the media was rumors. then we heard this on badrawy, the newly elected secretary, saying he was expecting mubarak to hear the demands of the protesters and that he would step aside. it is a lot of confusion, but it looks very likely that mubarak might step down today. but you never know.

people have expected this also the last two times to $1 and the air. and there were badly disappointed. so we really have to see what the next few hours will bring. >> what is the mood in the epicenter of the popular uprising in tahrir square? are people still singing and chanting or is their attention? >> i think they are celebrating. as far as i can tell, and i hear them in a celebratory mood. they think they have achieved something really, really big. this news that mubarak coming on television today and all these rumors flying about has brought the crowd up, and they really hope that today is the day where egypt, as they say it, egypt is going to be liberated. that is what they are calling it. but there's also this kind of tension, you know, because nobody really wants the military to take over. if this is going to be a military coup, which was also a rumor, this is something that people would be very upset about

and very angry about. because this is not what they want. all the tweets i have been falling in the people i talk to say we want the civilian state. we do not want a military state. we do not want the military to take over. they will accept the military to be, you know, part of a transitional time to safeguard the security of the country. but not the military to really take over and make it a military -- put it under military law. this would be something that people would really be against. they also would not accept omar suleiman to take over as president, if this is of the that mubarak will say later. >> ok. >> that would not accept that. >> we have to leave it there. thank you for that update in those insights. we were just hearing from our reporter there about omar suleiman. here's more about him.

he is the man most likely to assume the reins of power in egypt. the vice president. &he is well known and liked by politicians in the west, especially in israel, the u.s., in britain. but he is the longtime head of the country's intelligence agencies, so is tied to the practice of torture and political dissidents and would be acceptable for many opposition figures and protesters only as a short-term interim figure. he is also reported to be seriously ill. here's more on the man likely to be the next leader of egypt's 88 million people. >> it is just over omar suleiman a week omar was sworn in as egypt's vice-president, the first of mubarak's presidency. the 74-wrote said he wanted to maintain peace and stability but was also open to reform, ready to talk to the muslim brotherhood. but on tuesday, he struck a more ominous note, warning a military

coup if talks fail. >> the dialogue must be continued. we will work out a plan from the loose agreements. also, we need a precise time frame for clearing the way for an orderly and peaceful transition of power in egypt. suleiman is highly regarded in both washington and israel. i enter islam two years ago, he met with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. they've had friendly relations. during his 13 years as egypt's intelligence chief, suleiman cultivated close relations to israeli officials. in 2003, he acted as a go- between for israelis and palestinians during talks in suleiman ramallah in worked behind the scenes. he told us our era of that cairo would give the palestinians aid in exchange for political reform. but back at home, suleiman has

not been especially like. his desire for stability is seen by many as a desire to maintain the status quo. but that is in the age of protesters desperately want to change. >> the white house says the administration's top priority right now remains an orderly transition to free and fair elections in egypt. the white house has been both supportive of president mubarak, and at the same time, voices backing for the democratic aspirations of the egyptian people. barack obama has pushed the government in cairo to make meaningful changes, while warning that a sudden shift could bring chaos. >> the revolution began on january 25. tens of thousands of egyptians took to the street, fed up with president hosni mubarak's regime. the police cracked down. scores of people died or were injured. but the people were undeterred and returned the next day. hundreds, thousands, the streets

of cairo teamed with protesters. then the military intervened. demonstrators welcomed them with cheers and applause, hoping for protection from the police and security forces. the army said it would refrain from using force, but it did send several fighter jets to sweep low over tahrir square. people prayed for the victims of the brutal crackdown on for their own safety. the death toll was now in the hundreds. the protesters refused to give ground. tahrir square remains the center of the uprising. hundreds of thousands gathered ththe on february 1. people of all walks of life. demonstrating against the embattled president. suddenly the mood changed. more thugs believed to be mccourt supporters ited into

the protests. even more victims. the military finally threw up checkpoints to stop the man from getting to the square. there, the protesters went beyond, said in an improvised camp. supporters brought supplies and cared for the injured. again and again, protesters called for an end to mubarak's regime. the refused to leave until the president quits. >> and recapping that story at this hour, in egypt there are increasing s sns that president hosni mubarak may relinquish his post. their pictures from tahrir square in the center of cairo, the epicenter of the countries represented of the head of the u.s. cia leon panetta says there's a strong likelihood that

mubarak will step down this evening. staywith us here dw-tv for more on this story throughout the evening. thanks so much for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪ ♪

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