LI Egyptian-Americans ponder Mubarak fate

Hours after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a televised address that he planned to stay in office until September, shocking many who expected him to resign, a few men gathered after evening prayers Thursday night at the Islamic Center of Melville.

"I blew up when I heard it," said Assan Ibrahim, a car dealer from Dix Hills. "I couldn't believe it. I expected anything but what he said."

"Do you know," said Mohamed Abdeltaywab, a medical technician from Deer Park, "when he started to talk, people came out on the streets? They were celebrating - they thought he was going to leave."

There was one dissenting voice, and it belonged to Ash El-Feky, a businessman from Huntington. "Look forward," he said. "I'm not saying Mubarak is perfect. He's bad and his regime is bad. . . . But if Mubarak leaves now, Egypt will become like Iraq and Afghanistan, with every group fighting for the presidency."

After Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, head of Egypt's army, told protesters in Tahrir Square that "all your demands will be met today," many there and abroad assumed Mubarak was on his way out.

His address made it clear that he intends nothing of the sort. Jubilation turned to confusion, anger and fear, in some quarters, that today could bring violent protests. "I have family over there," said Abdeltaywab. "I hope nothing happens tomorrow."

The argument in Melville rolled on. What can Mubarak accomplish in the six months until September that he hasn't done in 30 years, Ibrahim and Abdeltaywab wondered.

The entire system is corrupt, El-Feky countered; changing regimes won't help that. Besides, he said, "He is a man. It's the Egyptian personality. He's . . . saying, 'I want to die in my country.' "

"No, this is what it is to be a man," said Ibrahim. "When millions of people say we don't want you, you say thank you, I'm leaving now, and you walk away."

A philosophical argument could have lasted all night. It didn't. "Mr. Mubarak can wait," Ibrahim said. "My wife and my dinner will not."