Mr. Suleiman’s ascension may incite public anger — crowds have already begun shouting chants against him — but would also be likely to put at ease those who benefited from the status quo, at least in the short term. 
 
 “He is a tough man, strong, business-oriented, efficient,” said Emad Shahin, a former professor at American University in Cairo and now at Notre Dame. “He is a very skillful negotiator.” 
 
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 Mr. Suleiman has run Egypt’s General Intelligence Service since 1993, taking over as the nation was battling Islamic extremists. He is 74 years old and, like Mr. Mubarak, fought in two wars with Israel. 
 
 He is said to hold a similar worldview, deeply distrusting Iran, favoring close relations with Washington, supporting the cold peace with Israel, and against easing up on the Muslim Brotherhood, the principal opposition group in Egypt. He has managed most of Egypt’s hottest issues, including dealing with Hamas, Hezbollah and Sudan. 
 
 With the choice of Mr. Suleiman, experts said it was clear that Mr. Mubarak was playing to what he now views as his most important constituency, perhaps the only one that can ensure his safety and a smooth exit from power — the military. 
 
 Mr. Suleiman was selected on the same day that Mr. Mubarak named a former air force commander, Ahmed Shafiq, as his new prime minister. Several analysts said this had suggested that the appointments were part of a strategy aimed at allowing the military to consolidate control of the government. 
 
 “What concerns us now is this is clearly a military takeover,” said Mr. Shahin. “I would not be surprised if Mubarak disappears tomorrow or after tomorrow.” 
 
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 Mr. Suleiman is known as a dapper dresser, preferring suits over military uniforms. Still, just as every president has been since Gamal Abdel Nasser, he is a fully military man. 
 
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 Though he is not a member of the governing National Democratic Party, which is prohibited because he was in the military, he is a consummate insider, seen by many as the link between Egyptian politics and its military. He had been so close to the president, traveling with him on most state visits, that Mr. Mubarak issued a special decree to allow Mr. Suleiman to retain his post even after passing the mandatory retirement age. 
 
 In secret diplomatic memos sent from the United States Embassy in Cairo to Washington and made public by WikiLeaks, Mr. Suleiman is described as sharing Washington’s foreign policy agenda. 
 
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 In one such memo, a top embassy diplomat said that Mr. Suleiman told the ambassador, “Egypt is America’s partner.” The cable also said: “Egypt will continue to provide the USG with its knowledge and expertise on the critical regional issues, such as Lebanon and Iraq. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the core issue.” 
 
 It also said that Mr. Suleiman had “contended a peaceful resolution would be a ‘big blow’ to terrorist organizations that use the conflict as a pretext.” 
 
 Mr. Suleiman’s elevation reflects a new reality set in motion by the days of protests. For years, his name was thought to be on the short list of candidates for president — behind that of Mr. Mubarak’s younger son, Gamal. While the old guard, the military and the West liked the notion of Mr. Suleiman taking over, it was clear that the Mubarak family had been maneuvering to see the son replace the father, experts said. 
 
 “This has been a long time in the making,” Mr. Assaad said. “Gamal is clearly off the table. He would be unacceptable now. Suleiman was the military’s candidate forever.” 
 
 Mr. Suleiman was born July 2, 1936, in Qena, a city in Upper Egypt. He graduated from Egypt’s military academy and received training in the former Soviet Union, just like Mr. Mubarak. He also studied political science at Cairo University and at Ain Shams University in Cairo. 
 
 He is credited with having negotiated several cease-fires between Israel and the Palestinians and, despite his position, is said to also have the respect of Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. 
 
 But even those who admire him say that his appointment now, in the face of unprecedented civil unrest, puts him in an unenviable position. 
 
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 “If he was appointed before, it would have been good,” said Mr. Shokry, the former ambassador to Syria. “But now, no one knows what he will be asked to do or what role he will play, and he is going be considered part of a regime that is in a shaky position.” 

 Egypt's first vice president in three decades, and a possible successor to President Hosni Mubarak, has for years been a key interlocutor for U.S. diplomats, military officials and congressional delegations, diplomatic cables suggest. His elevation Saturday raises intriguing possibilities. 
 
 Diplomats have long considered Omar Suleiman, the head of Egyptian intelligence services, a possible vice president—he had been promised the job years ago—and indeed the likeliest successor to the president if Mr. Mubarak failed in his bid to create a family dynasty. He is considered both a loyalist to Mr. Mubarak and a serious rival to the president's son, Gamal Mubarak. 
 
 View Full Image Agence France-Presse/Getty Images President Hosni Mubarak, left, Vice President Omar Suleiman, center and Chief of Staff Sami Anan during a visit to army commanders in Cairo Sunday, in an image taken from Egyptian television. 
 
 His candidacy to lead the country should Mr. Mubarak fall also suggests how a transition of power might be accomplished. Mr. Suleiman enjoys the support of army, intelligence and security leaders, in addition to that of the U.S. 
 
 Yet in his mid-70s he is considered too old to contemplate a multi-year presidency himself. And despite Washington's respect for Mr. Suleiman, U.S. officials are increasingly coming to believe that this military man isn't the long-term fix Cairo needs. They say his closeness to Mr. Mubarak is probably too high a hurdle for him to clear, and that he is, at best, a transitional figure. 
 
 "It's pretty clear he's not the one the people are calling for," a U.S. official working on the Mideast said. 
 
 According to dozens of diplomatic cables sent over the past five years and released by the WikiLeaks website, most high-level U.S. delegations in recent years to Cairo have included a visit with Mr. Suleiman. That includes visits by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Gen. David Petraeus and FBI Director Robert Mueller, numerous congressional delegations and regular contacts with the ambassador and political officers, according to the cables. 
 
 In the view of U.S. diplomats in Cairo, Mr. Suleiman is a key figure in the Mubarak regime, responsible primarily for the Arab-Israeli peace talks; management of the Gaza strip tinderbox, Hamas and associated arms-smuggling in Sinai; relations with regional troublemakers, especially Iran and Syria; and broad counterterrorism cooperation with the U.S. 
 
 Photos: Sunday Protests View Slideshow Reuters Regional Upheaval View Interactive A succession of rallies and demonstrations, in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Algeria have been inspired directly by the popular outpouring of anger that toppled Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. See how these uprising progressed. 
 
 He has played an active role in the Mideast peace process, particularly in trying to forge a compromise between rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, and has been at the forefront of the Egyptian effort to crack own on arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. 
 
 Mr. Suleiman has been "the point person on both the U.S. relationship and the Israel-Egyptian relationship," Jon Alterman, Mideast director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Associated Press. "He's very reassuring both ways." 
 
 The diplomats in the cables describe Mr. Suleiman as ruthless but a straight shooter and a reliable partner in the war on terror. In a 2009 cable, the embassy in Cairo reported that Mr. Suleiman and Interior Minister Habib al-Adly "keep the domestic beasts at bay, and Mubarak is not one to lose sleep over their tactics." 
 
 When it came time to repatriate Guantanamo prisoners, Mr. Suleiman was the key go-between with the U.S., and his promises of lawful treatment were taken seriously. His word "is the [Egyptian government's] guarantee, and the [government's] track record of cooperation on [counterterror] issues lends further support to this assessment," one cable said. 
 
 Mr. Suleiman on most issues has echoed President Mubarak, the documents noted, though he placed as much emphasis on the long-term dangers posed by Iran's nuclear program as on its short-term efforts to destabilize the region. Mr. Mubarak worried more about Iran's meddling in Arab affairs. 
 
 Mr. Suleiman told U.S. visitors in 2008 that an attack on Iran's nuclear program would backfire, and urged stiffer sanctions instead, according to the cables. He said "such an attack would not destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities and would only unite Iranians with their leadership and against the U.S. He repeated the need to make Iran 'busy with its people' by effective sanctions, citing the successful example of Libya." 
 
 Much like Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Suleiman views Islamic radicalism as one of the clearest threats to Egypt, saying the regime is "circled" by Islamic radicals and pointing to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and wider radical activities in the region, including Sudan and Somalia. He includes the Muslim Brotherhood in this wider radical universe, even though it appears to be a nonviolent movement today. 
 
 —Jay Solomon contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Keith Johnson at keith.johnson@wsj.com
– Hosni Mubarak's new vice president—and possible successor—may help shore up support with Egypt's powerful military and reassure the United States, but Omar Suleiman will do little to save Mubarak's presidency. Suleiman leads Egypt’s foreign intelligence service, has similar political views as Mubarak, is considered the establishment pick by the public—indeed, there have already been chants against Suleiman. "It's pretty clear he's not the one the people are calling for," a US official working in the Mideast tells the Wall Street Journal. “If he was appointed before, it would have been good,” a former ambassador tells the New York Times. “But now, no one knows what he will be asked to do or what role he will play, and he is going be considered part of a regime that is in a shaky position.” Suleiman was actually promised the VP position years ago, but Mubarak reneged and tried positioning his son to take over instead. Now, the choice of Suleiman could signal the military intends on running things. “What concerns us now is this is clearly a military takeover,” says a former professor at American University in Cairo. “I would not be surprised if Mubarak disappears tomorrow or after tomorrow.”