From the 1 Feb 2011 edition of Bloomberg: Kissinger Says Mubarak Exit a `Question of Months,' Urges Muted U.S. Reply

Henry Kissinger, a former U.S. secretary of state and presidential adviser, said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is certain to resign within “months at most” as the Arab world’s most populous country braces for “a period of great uncertainty.”

Kissinger said on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop with Betty Liu" that the U.S. should say little publicly about Egypt during this transition. The U.S. does not want to be perceived as trying to impose a government on the Egyptian people, he said.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a leader of the Egyptian opposition and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is likely only a transitional figure because he lacks a political base, Kissinger said.

“I think almost certainly he will be a temporary figure,” he said. “In order to govern, you have to represent some sort of forces, and I don’t know what forces ElBaradei represents.”

Omar Suleiman, a former Army general and Mubarak’s newly appointed vice president, is “highly intelligent and quite sophisticated,” Kissinger said. While stopping short of calling Suleiman a friend of the United States, Kissinger said he “has been very cooperative.”