Mubarak loyalist becomes Egypt's transition leader

CAIRO –  A U.S. diplomatic cable reported that the defense minister was known as "Mubarak's poodle," a derisive reference to his unswerving loyalty to the former authoritarian president.

Yet huge crowds of Egyptians who demonstrated for 18 days against Hosni Mubarak's rule saw Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi and his troops as their savior. They appealed to the military to intervene in Egypt's crisis, and the generals did.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/15/mubarak-loyalist-egypts-transition-leader/#ixzz1E4V1Bwpg