Foreign Secretary calls on President Mubarak to listen to legitimate grievances of Egyptian people
"We remain deeply concerned about the level of violence we have witnessed over the past few days."
Please note that our travel advice for Egypt has been updated since this statement was published.
Commenting on developments in Egypt on Saturday 29 January, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague said:
“We remain deeply concerned about the level of violence we have witnessed over the past few days.
We call on the government to exercise restraint and on the Egyptian people to pursue their legitimate grievances peacefully.
President Mubarak spoke last night of his commitment to take new steps towards greater democracy and freedom for the citizens. We call on him now to listen urgently to the aspirations expressed by the Egyptian people.
He must seize this moment to make these reforms real and visible and to base them on the universal values that are the right of people in all countries.
We are working with our EU partners and other allies on the latest developments to deliver a clear coordinated message about our expectations of President Mubarak and in particular the need for him to take responsibility to deliver change. Peaceful reform not repression must be the way forward.
We continue to keep our Travel Advice under constant review. We advise against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez. The situation in the Red Sea resorts remains calm. We are in regular contact with travel operators and our priority remains the safety of British Nationals in Egypt. I am sending additional consular resources to Cairo to provide support to any British Nationals affected by the demonstrations as soon as possible.”