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Mubarak sworn in, vows to reform Egypt
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sworn in for a fifth term in office after sweeping to victory in Egypt's first contested presidential poll, and vowed to deliver on pledges for reform, AFP reported.
But the swearing-in, which marks the beginning of another six-year term for Mubarak at the helm of the Arab world's most populous country, was marred by a noisy demonstration against him in the streets of the capital. "I will work with the utmost determination towards the implementation of the programme I proposed during the electoral campaign," Mubarak said after taking the oath of office in a ceremony in parliament.
Canons were fired from the parliament compound after the ceremony. Under pressure at home and abroad, the 77-year-old Mubarak, the region's longest serving leader after Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, has pledged to embark on greater democratic reform. Kadhafi was in Cairo for the occasion. Mubarak, who rules under a state of emergency imposed after the 1981 assassination of his predecessor, Anwar al-Sadat, swept to a landslide victory on September 7 in the country's first multi-candidate poll. Official results gave him 88.5 percent of the vote, but
low turnout meant that those who voted for him represented less than nine
percent of Egypt's total population.
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