20110205
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Political leaders were meeting inside and outside Egypt on Saturday to seek a way out of a dangerous impasse between President Hosni Mubarak and demonstrators calling for him to step down.

"The status quo is simply not sustainable," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a security conference in Munich on the 12th day of mass demonstrations against Mubarak, referring not only to the situation in Egypt but in the wider Middle East.

Saboteurs blew up a gas pipeline in northern Egypt overnight, disrupting flows to Israel and also to Jordan, where protesters angered by economic hardship have been demanding a more democratic political system.

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

Trade Minister Samiha Fawzi said after the meeting that exports from Egypt were down 6 percent in January due to the unrest and curfew in the country. Authorities were providing extra food supplies to avoid shortages, she said.

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

"President Mubarak has announced he will not stand for reelection nor will his son ... He has given a clear message to his government to lead and support this process of transition," Clinton told a security conference in Munich where world leaders will discuss how to proceed.

"That is what the government has said it is trying to do, that is what we are supporting, and hope to see it move as orderly but as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances," she said.