20110205
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up a gas pipeline in northern Egypt in a further sign of the country's instability on a 12th day of demonstrations on Saturday against the 30-year-rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak, who has reshuffled his government but refused to step down, met some of the new ministers on Saturday, the state news agency said, in a clear rebuff to the hundreds of thousands of people publicly demanding the 82-year-old leader step down.

Western governments have expressed support for the demonstrators but some were cautious about expecting too much too fast.

"There will be change in Egypt ... but it needs to be change in such a way that it is peaceful and orderly," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a security conference in Munich where world leaders will discuss how to proceed.

At the same time, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for a rapid transition to new leadership and political reform.

"The longer it is put off, the more likely we are to get an Egypt we wouldn't welcome," he said.

Vice President Omar Suleiman was due to meet a group of prominent figures on Saturday to examine a proposed solution under which he would assume the president's powers for an interim period, one of the group's members said.

But with some of the protesters insisting they wanted not just Mubarak but also his allies out, it was unclear that would be enough to end the crisis.