By TOM RAUM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared Friday the peaceful departure of Hosni Mubarak as Egypt’s president marked “a beginning” holding the promise of greater democracy for the world’s most populous Arab nation. But he added soberly, “There will be difficult days ahead.”
Indeed, while Obama and other U.S. officials voiced optimism, they were also concerned over who will end up in control of the Egypt and whether the United States will emerge with the kind of stable partner it badly needs in the volatile Middle East.
Also at issue: whether the unrest that brought down Mubarak will spread to other nations in the Middle East, including oil-rich autocratic neighbors, and whether the Egyptian military will make good on its pledge of promoting free and fair elections.