Al-Masriya TV via AFP - Getty Images

Egyptian state televsion Al-Masriya shows Vice President Omar Suleiman speaking during an interview Thursday in Cairo.

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman may have set the stage for action against protesters Friday, theorizes Tim Marshall of SkyNews.

Suleiman in an interview on Egypt's state TV thanked youth for getting reform under way, but he also appealed for calm and claimed foreign infiltrators were riling protesters.

Then he told them: "Lift the protest, your demands have been met."

Suleiman's words left the way open to crack down on protests, especially on Friday, which anti-government demonstrators are calling the 'Day of Departure.'

Later Thursday, Suleiman's American counterpart, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, called to urge restraint on all sides and to support  universal rights including peaceful assembly, association, and speech.