egyptian president hosni mubarak has seemingly bowed to pressure at home and abroad as he finally resigns following the brutal are seen over the past few weeks also. wiki leaks founder julian assange will have to wait to hear his extradition fate. hearing into whether he'll be sent to sweden on sex crime charges. however sweden may be just a short stop for leaked cables uncover an american agenda behind the swedish water going to washington to press espionage charges on.

live from our studios here in central moscow this is r t with you twenty four hours a day the egyptian president hosni mubarak has finally stepped down and handed power to them in a tree and according to the country's vice president it comes after more than two weeks of mass uprisings in the country which has been accompanied by a wave of violent clashes between pro and anti-government protesters western powers including the u.s. have been calling for a transition of power leaving its decades long isolated but he's got a gun has this report from washington well in the u.s. it's presented as a triumph of democracy in egypt mubarak left this is what the egyptian people want it and that's how it democracy should work that's the rhetoric here president obama is expected to the speech along these lines congratulating the people the media here to celebrate the new and free egypt but little is known about what really happened in cairo last night said in his address he was not leaving until september it's not quite clear why. why is it that it is his vice president omar suleiman who

is announcing his who announced his departure what also happened the army stepped in is now basically in charge of the country and the army which is largely funded by the united states the question is who is really in power in egypt right now and are the gypsies really free washington can hardly be impartial when it comes to power struggle in egypt it's a strategic location for the united states egypt is a neighbor to has been a close ally for thirty years the u.s. has been pumping billions of dollars into the egyptian military and they certainly don't want to lose it whoever comes comes next although the official position is it's up to the egyptian people to choose their next leader but some analysts say washington is pulling the strings and it is very likely that the next leader will be approved by the united states did the egyptian people demands are legitimate and they would want to see a leader who hears his people's grievances but if you watch american t.v. listen to american politicians it's really all about u.s.

interests here not really about egyptians they talk about democracy in egypt but it brought democracy that would be acceptable for the united states we remember what happened with some of the other u.s. promoted democratic revolutions. or ukraine. the shots were that we're about to show you right now are from egypt are not for it they're from ukraine for two thousand and five people and that's where also thought there came the triumph of democracy there was a similar uprising in kurdistan quite violent actually people were happy it forced but those leaders who came to power were later rejected by the same people. in washington will also use. the western influence on the events unfolding in egypt and the way these situations developed in the past three weeks. barack his history his steely determination not to resign. as he finally stepped down as

president seems a celebration marking an end to the leader's thirty year regime and a new start for the egyptian people. but already the west is jumping on the victory bandwagon claiming this is a success for democracy and trumpeting egypt's new found freedom and perhaps they forgotten that if egypt is now free then it's from a regime that was into recently largely supported and funded by the western leaders who now denounces. such a room. talking about democracy and right rather than such swift policy u. turns the west might be better placed to press harder on autocratic regimes such as when they restrict political freedoms damage economic progress.

for democracy and human rights efficiently. in the past me parents resignation marks a significant moment in egypt's history and there's no doubt that this is a huge success for the people but this time will also be pivotal in determining their future and a real an enduring political commitment to change and it's now commands rather than time wasting rhetoric however inspiring. terrorist square has been the recent at the center of egypt's democratic hopes the stage for the people's revolution and is there the battle for better governance should be for its western involvement now needs to tread carefully to ensure that they're encouraging genuine and lasting reform as opposed to simply fueling an impassioned revolution that risks replacing one tire an equation for another sarah fair r.t.

for more on the events in egypt let's not cross live to ivan eland he's the senior fellow at the individual institute joining us there in washington d.c. good to see here and r.t. there's been speculation the events in egypt were provoked by a risky game being played by external powers and this was all about people power in the streets of egypt what do you make of that. well i actually think that this was you know of course there's long term. issues going on but i think the united states was sort of taken by surprise on this because it vacillated supporting mubarak at first and calling him not a dictator the vice president biden and then move to well you need to start the transistor and immediately then it when that looked like it swung back to the egyptian government then they were backtracking on that and then of course they kind of shifted yesterday again when the protesters started in

a big way so i think this vacillation indicates that the u.s. was taken by surprise but i think there is a longer bigger problem with the u.s. policy and that is cozying up to. dictators in the first place that we really don't need to cozy up to and then when they get into trouble we get into this hypocritical position of supporting an autocratic regime when we're spouting democratic rhetoric here in the united states so i think then this is a this is a hypocritical policy which many countries call the us on and i think it's sort of been demonstrated in egypt that this occurred. what about these events that they vote memories in quite a few analysts i've been talking to today all of the so-called colored revolutions that we saw in the space in stand in ukraine for example that took place in the last what previous decade do you think it's fair to make comparisons with what's happening in egypt to what happened in those days. well we'll have to see i mean

it's a much different culture of course different part of the world but certainly this in egypt appears to be organic because it's not very organized but the problem with revolutions is sometimes they can go off the track and some of the ones that you're speaking about. in the former soviet union in eastern europe did go off the track a bit and so i think in the french revolution for instance so we don't know that there's going to be a mock the scene in egypt yet the military is currently running the place it's supposed to be in a transitional basis but sometimes you know the elite like to keep power so we'll have to see certainly the people who are overseeing this process and the and the elite in egypt have to be very nervous after this so if the people don't get democracy with their promise they may go back into the streets again but hopefully the egyptian democracy will triumph but we don't know that yet at this point it's

interesting to see that obviously countries around the world are welcoming in this resignation this development there in egypt but how significant is it that israel has remained very quiet on this. well i think israel is very nervous because mubarak had been a very good ally you know they have a peace treaty and egypt is by far the largest arab country in the most powerful arab country militarily and it's right on israeli the israeli border so israel has to be very nervous about what could take its place and it's almost assuredly and the government will probably be less. friendly to the israelis and probably less friendly to the united states as well but we don't know who is going to end up with the reins of power in egypt whether it will be the military or somebody like the muslim brotherhood probably not the brotherhood but certainly the brotherhood may

influence future government so we have to see if there's a full blown democracy anything could happen but i think israel is frightened that this stable relationship that it's had with egypt since the camp david peace accords back in seventy nine could unravel interesting to what you have to say i live in iran thank you very much indeed for your comments on what's happening that this is story moment there in egypt thank you very much for joining us live from washington well now william spring he's a leading expert in foreign policy he joins me now from london thanks so much for joining us here on r.t. why do you think the news of the resignation came from the vice president today but not the president himself is it and the significance and that you think well i think the president may have lost. face. and therefore he. delegated the responsibility to the vice president was only last night the president said he was staying on and. obviously he's now been the screws

have been put upon him by the army no doubt by the u.s. state department and consequently this new light he's had to readjust its position but he doesn't want to have to admit it to his audience is the egyptian people what he meant that that really. shows you mention the army there and how many have actually like in this almost to a military coup they are now in power for the moment they are saying they're going to make sure they'll be an orderly transition to the next president next government but is there a chance we'll see yet another mubarak in power somebody just like him in the future i think you know i think there's always that risk in any revolution you will get somebody else emerging or maybe as bad as the previous one but nonetheless it's a very good thing that today we've got news that the arab world has is having what

i would call a sixteen forty moment or seventeen one thousand nine moments or seventeen seventy five moment why is it assumed that arabs cannot conduct a revolution towards constitutional democracy my one of my forebears or william spring was left with oliver cromwell and we still cherish the memory in our family three hundred fifty years down the line and those who died in tahrir square their memory will be cherished for generations to come in egypt for what they've done they've paid with their lives to change a system which was corrupt until the nichol there is no way we can dispute that anyone who's been in there with for thirty years. just simply arranging elections an under the thumb of the americans to a large degree is not you know eventually they recently need for change and i'm

glad the president mubarak however bit. later dilly recognize that so what's been happening then in egypt is indicative of what's happening in other arab countries throughout the middle east therefore are we going to see the same as people are saying a domino effect not just what we see in tunisia and yemen but also elsewhere no i think this is a this is a situation where the domino is fall'n namely egypt the people of egypt are preeminent lead civilized and capable of conducting their own affairs they don't need a strong man they don't need robert gates to tell them from washington how to conduct their affairs now obviously revolutions could take place in other middle east states saudi arabia is the next possible domino to fall but that is no there's no county will be such a useful transition in saudi arabia simply because of the islamic nature of the society what it is egypt is much more diverse and just finally i want to ask you

one point what one of the main causes for the protests was the corruption that so many people accuse mubarak and his cronies and his family of indulging in now of course he had been getting money from the u.s. and other countries for decades now we understand today his assets have been frozen by the swiss authorities is this a way of perhaps because countries getting their money back from him. well i think this is an appalling situation in some respects that suddenly the european union wakes up after thirty years to the fact that there's been major violations of human rights and the swiss government suddenly decides to see quest straight somebody these assets this is quite some unacceptable what have they been doing for the previous thirty years while mubarak was actually torturing people. putting down opposition by force we turned it in the last week or so we've seen the greed

of the ball ballast of the mubarak regime and suddenly the swiss bank has wake up to the fact that they should seaquest straight the assets what about the assets of other dictators who are still in power no i think it's appalling very interesting to hear what you have to say william spring great to have you here on r t director of the come out u.k. foreign policy monitoring group live in london thank you well peter bell will have more on the resignation of the egyptian president in his program cross talk that's coming your way in a few minutes in the meantime here's a brief preview for you. there's a a long ways to go this is the beginning of a very long term process and really we've witnessed the first internet revolution we've seen the first indication in an age of facebook twitter instantaneous communication the internet autocracies are inherently unstable they can't sustain themselves not one that the entire alters national i know what are sure. susan go right ahead this is cross talk you can jump in anytime you want go here and i'm

sorry yeah so i wanted to say and this is not a facebook or twitter revolution i think that's a very very oriental is sort of the american way of looking at this is an addiction revelation it was a revolution of the people. crosstalk coming your way a little later here in our to you know in other news today the verdict in the high profile case of the we can expand has been adjourned for two weeks during the sonship in court from monday to friday as he continues his battle against extradition to sweden where he faces questioning over sex crime and occasions he claims a case was fabricated so the u.s. can use we can to hand him over on espionage charges of treason or and it has been keeping track of developments from outside the court there in london. all waiting for now is the verdict and that is due to be delivered we now know on the twenty fourth of february so in a couple of weeks' time we were hearing today the closing statements made by bass the defense and the prosecution and now the judge is going to presumably retired to

his chambers to two weeks to think about the evidence that he's heard and then come up finally with a verdict stay on the twenty fourth of february we're not expecting that to take very long literally everyone will just go ahead and the judge judge will tell us what he saw he says in terms of what we've been hearing on friday morning we essentially had summaries of the evidence from the prosecution and from the defense i prosecute and has maintained all along and maintained again today that there's no reason why us all shouldn't go to sweden to all articles questions during the news about this payment due to nationalise came out of the court and made a short statement to the media he used that statement to highlight what he called the injustices of the european arrest warrant under which his extradition is being requested let's hear what he had to say it gives me hope that we can through this particular case. not simply draw attention. to the difficulty and the pressure. that we and other people have been under. but rather.

perhaps we have an opportunity. to set a new president. about the abuses of european arrest warrant we had some quite graphic details from the defend. yes about these alleged assaults sort of almost making light of the of of these allegations as the prosecution said talking about the sexual encounters that took place with two women in august and we also heard an angry statement by the defense solicitor about comments that the swedish prime minister has made recently about julian astonished the defense cool that a devastatingly prejudicial attack and said that the swedish pic prime minister had spread malicious lies about julian assange suggesting that he believes that women's rights and worthless and also suggesting that he's already been charged with these this rate which in fact is not the case at all in

a any decent country the rule of law is separate from the political process it appears that in sweden it is not and not the prime minister has i am afraid to say so or to change the legal process just one more example of the point exceptional behavior in the julian a solid case another assumption factor this is also a case that has descended at times into farce and today is no exception there's a new book out by a man called daniel dumpsite burke who used to work with student ourselves at wiki leaks and he is essentially written a book about our sons and his relationship with him the most bizarre thing about the allegations that dump site but has made something to do with his cat he said that our sons lived with him for a while and restart in germany and that has a cat which julian and sid into a war of suprema see where the senshi attacking the cat and then pulling back saying he would win sometimes the cat one sometimes i saw one and he says that that

shows that ourselves is some kind of power hungry maniac we haven't heard any more about the espionage charges that the u.s. is said to be preparing against julian astonished but we do know that politicians and other people in the us have come out very much against him in terms of the relationship between sweden and the us which is a call to what all this hindu. on essentially if you look at it from that perspective we have had access to some wiki leaks cables from the us state department they told us some very interesting things about the relationship exists cozy relationship between the u.s. and sweden i prepared this report on the subject bulked and wiretapped at the behest of the us swedish intelligence service the ethyl a has the power to monitor and intercept all internet traffic in the country and thanks to leaked u.s. state department cables we now know the controversial law was adopted after pressure from washington and the security services were deliberately kept out a bit to reassure the swedes there was no funny business force to operate under

strict data storage and protection laws for swedish citizens they are concerned that the public may perceive their involvement as an attempt to work around these restrictions by using a foreign intermediary knows poisoning any chance for success the u.s. interest is clear eighty percent of all the internet traffic from russia travels through sweden and from there to america but most men from by by government representatives that no no no the purpose is not to. is the morning monitor among other things russian trying to traffic but what kind of information are they are worth i think the information that is made accessible to special services by this law is of course sensitive and there are ways it can harm russia's political interests. the law has been slammed by some as the most far reaching eavesdropping plan in europe and prompted widespread protests ahead of its

implementation cables also suggest the swedish government was colluding with the u.s. to avoid involving the public at all costs. the agreements may have to be presented to parliament and of a constitutional requirement for matters of great importance here. so the process will take considerably longer and be subject to public scrutiny something the government of sweden will want to avoid as the ministry of justice continues to analyze the proposed text it is also considering how to craft and arrangement that will avoid the need for parliamentary review there is no parliamentary control over what the. us. and of course the general public in sweden has even less control and much of the pressure comes from the united states and from the corporate industries it's being in the swedish government the more than happy to to. to to do whatever the american corporations. ask through the american government judging from the

date on the leaked cables while sweden was debating whether to pass the bill the americans were already negotiating with the swedish authorities on what kind of information they wanted they see the twenty third meeting has an opportunity to seek precise details on the type of information the united states wants and overall aim of the agreement and it's clear the us ended up getting what it was after at least in terms of information on the eighty percent of russian internet traffic that passes through sweden our intelligence cooperation with sweden on russia is excellent do you directed left handed general burgess who'll be here next week for exchanges with the swedes on russia and of the topics now it's not just information on russia that the us is after it's reportedly carrying out its own investigation into wiki leaks founder julian assange still most of all this information to see if it can bring espionage charges if it can and applies to sweden first extradition

all this close cooperation that we've seen may mean his feet won't touch the ground floor and it's r.t. . the leader of sweden's pirate party rick fogg says wiretapping by sweden has dealt a tremendous blow to the country's reputation as a human rights campaigner. your father in law has done tremendous damage to sweden's reputation as an up holder of human rights it's quite potentially the most egregious violation of human rights in western europe in terms of wiretapping i mean it's said that every human being have human rights and here comes the swiss government saying no no no no we're not going to wiretap any swedes well it so happens that all humans have human rights including particularly for some reason the government says the target of this is going to be russia primarily like swedes wouldn't care about. russia will not tolerate japan's radical approach towards the

far east and could alliance which tokyo claims as its own moscow's official stance comes as the japanese foreign minister is in the russian capital for talks the items were handed to russia as part of a capitulation agreement at the end of the second world war however no formal peace deal has ever been signed between the two countries europe is going on as the details. no radicalism and preconditions that's the message from russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov right after his meeting with his japanese counterpart if you pour the full when japan adults are radical approach towards the peace treaty with russia which happens regularly and is shared by the country's government it's impossible to negotiate these issues i said to mr million here and that we're still ready to work on the peace treaty but with no preconditions the table through dispute between russia and japan over the album crew islands has been going on for over half a century now and swears up every year during the so-called northern territories

the in japan tokyo claims that these southern crew islands are traditionally and historically japanese territory while russia says that a b. or a strategic port off and that is one of the outcomes of the second world war so we continue standing firm on their positions but nevertheless both sides said that they are ready to talk more about this issue and also to work together in many others years from culture and energy to business of course which is only growing every year. europe is can offer porting there i'll be back with a summary of our main news stories in about four minutes from now in the meantime business is next with dmitri. welcome to business so it seems good to have your company nor snicket was trying once again to resolve the shareholder dispute that's dogging the company russia's largest miners made an improved offer to buy twenty percent of its shares from

element giant to sell for twelve point eight billion dollars and assemble the miner to buy all twenty five percent of resell shares twelve billion dollars which was promptly rejected roussel says it's considering that you offer no nickles other major shareholder into roles has been fighting with herself for control of the company since june and a further blow to on friday resell lost a court case filed in siberia to cancel norris nichols' election of interest backed board members. look at russia's stock markets and they recovered and was off to three days of losses on friday that was helped by a strong will rise in the session following the equity markets close boils lead to one percent as egypt's president mubarak stepped down too late for shares to react . enormous nicol rallied the most in five weeks trading after the company increased its offer to buy back its shares from sell shares closed up one percent on the news

that gasp from sold its ten percent stake in the gas producer for a first two percent discount but gazprom came under pressure as investors showed their displeasure at the deal those shares recovered towards the writing session. of course that's a very negative and it was taken by the markets very negative. so i think the markets actually are on friday punished for this news but again as i said before. very big story so this year we expect. still the stock is seriously underweight by international investors and with think then two thousand and twelve will be changing me here in the sense that n.p.v. negative cup which will be changed by it be positive complex and i think. the market move the markets will be reacting units and will direct imposable it so for now the headlines are next to stay with us.

culture is that so much a given to each musician a minute from the marquesas transition in the middle east with the resignation of the egyptian president is there now accounting real democracy what does the future hold for this country. wealthy british style. is not tied to the ties. to the. markets.