Omar Soliman named as Egyptian Vice President

[justiceischeap]

breaking on Al Jazeera. Rumored to be successor to Mubarak if Mubarak's son wasn't accepted. Speculating that Mubarak may actually pass his power over to Soliman.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. He was Chief of Intelligence Service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Suleiman

Chief of Intelligence Office
Suleiman became the chief of Egyptian Intelligence in 1993. His name has become known only in the last years, breaking the tradition of keeping the name of the Egyptian head of Intelligence a secret known only to top government officials. It was released in the media around 2000. Suleiman has acquired a more public profile while trying to broker a deal between the different armed Palestinian groups vying for power in Gaza as the top presidential envoy from President Hosni Mubarak as well as brokering deals or truces between the Palestinians and Israel. His perceived role in negotiations between Palestinian groups gave him the image of an effective behind-the-scenes figure in the Egyptian government as well as identifying him as potentially useful to foreign governments such those of the Arab countries, Israel, the Palestinians and the United States.

[malaise]

2. Not just named - sworn in by Mubarak himself

and rather quickly.

Bad move with all those people on the street. He's the negotiator for talks between Palestine and Israel. One more military dictator.

Mubarak is history.

[Pirate Smile]

3. There hasn't been a VP for 30 years. This is the guy that Mubarak will hand over power to when he

leaves.