US Senate to urge caretaker govt in Egypt

WASHINGTON — The US Senate was on track late Thursday to approve a symbolic resolution urging Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to create a caretaker government, but stopping short from urging him to step down."It calls on him to begin the process of transfer of power, create a caretaker effort, he could be part of it, he couldn't, depends on what they all agree to," Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry told reporters."We want them (the Egyptians) to make that kind of choice, and not narrow the options here," said the Democratic lawmaker, who crafted the measure with Republican Senator John McCain.McCain on Wednesday led a growing chorus of calls in the US Congress for Mubarak to step down immediately, a stiffening of criticism for the longtime US ally after his supporters charged peaceful anti-government demonstrators.US officials and lawmakers on Thursday denounced attacks and arrests of reporters covering the unprecedented protests against Mubarak's ironfisted decades of rule."The key here is to respect people's rights, to end the violence, to provide an opportunity for this transfer, and to begin to pull Egypt out of this chaotic confrontation and begin to embrace the aspirations of the people," said Kerry.The measure also acknowledges the long alliance between Washington and Mubarak's government, and appeals on all sides in the unrest in Egypt to refrain from violence, and urges respect for media freedoms."This is a seminal moment in the history of the Middle East and the world," said McCain. "Egypt is the heart and soul of the Arab world, and what we have been watching unfold in the last week has grieved all of us.""And there is every possibility that this crisis lurches into a genuine massacre, and we cannot afford that, and we must do everything in our power to see that it stops," he said on the Senate floor.McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said US lawmakers "do not want the Egyptian military to encourage thugs, we do not want the Egyptian military to be a

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