Mubarak steps down

[4me2]

with immediate effect.

More to follow.

1. BREAKING NEWS: Vice-President Suleiman: Hosni Mubarak stepping down as president of Egypt.
   
   

1. 1607: State TV says Mr Mubarak has handed over responsibility for running the nation's affairs to the higher military council.
   
   
2. 1606: Tahrir Square has erupted - pictures show cheering crowds waving flags in the dark.
   
   
3. 1604: The vice-president made a very brief televised statement. He said Mr Mubarak was stepping down for the benefit of the republic
   
   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

[4me2]

Egypt crisis: President Hosni Mubarak resigns as leader







Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as president of Egypt.
Vice-President Omar Suleiman made the announcement in a brief statement on state TV.
It came as thousands massed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for an 18th day of protest to demand Mr Mubarak's resignation.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045

[4me2]

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president
Egyptian president stands down and hands over power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces.

Last Modified: 11 Feb 2011 16:14 GMT



Pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square have vowed to take the protests to a 'last and final stage' [AFP]



Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.
Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.
Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.
Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.



Anger at state television

At the state television building, thousands have blocked people from entering or leaving, accusing the broadcaster of supporting the current government and of not truthfully reporting on the protests.
"The military has stood aside and people are flooding through [a gap where barbed wire has been moved aside]," Al Jazeera's correspondent at the state television building reported.
He said that "a lot of anger [was] generated" after Mubarak's speech last night, where he repeated his vow to complete his term as president.


'Gaining momentum'

Outside the palace in Heliopolis, where at least ten thousand protesters had gathered in Cairo, another Al Jazeera correspondent reported that there was a strong military presence, but that there was "no indication that the military wants to crack down on protesters"


She said that army officers had engaged in dialogue with protesters, and that remarks had been largely "friendly".
Tanks and military personnel had been deployed to bolster barricades around the palace.
Our correspondent said the crowd in Heliopolis was "gaining momentum by the moment", and that the crowd had gone into a frenzy when two helicopters were seen in the air around the palace grounds.
"By all accounts this is a highly civilised gathering. people are separated from the palace by merely a barbed wire ... but nobody has even attempted to cross that wire," she said.
As crowds grew outside the palace, Mubarak left Cairo on Friday for the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaikh, according to sources who spoke to Al Jazeera.
In Tahrir Square, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered, chanting slogans against Mubarak and calling for the military to join them in their demands.
Our correspondent at the square said the "masses" of pro-democracy campaigners there appeared to have "clear resolution" and "bigger resolve" to achieve their goals than ever before.
However, he also said that protesters were "confused by mixed messages" coming from the army, which has at times told them that their demands will be met, yet in communiques and other statements supported Mubarak's staying in power until at least September.

Army statement

In a statement read out on state television at midday, the military announced that it would lift a 30-year-old emergency law but only "as soon as the current circumstances end".
The military said it would also guarantee changes to the constitution as well as a free and fair election, and it called for normal business activity to resume.
Many protesters, hoping for Mubarak's resignation, had anticipated a much stronger statement.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tahrir Square said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to "a last and final stage".
"They're frustrated, they're angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions," she said.
Protest organisers have called for 20 million people to come out on "Farewell Friday" in a final attempt to force Mubarak to step down.



Alexandria protests

Hossam El Hamalawy, a pro-democracy organiser and member of the Socialist Studies Centre, said protesters were heading towards the presidential palace from multiple directions, calling on the army to side with them and remove Mubarak.
"People are extremely angry after yesterday's speech," he told Al Jazeera. "Anything can happen at the moment. There is self-restraint all over but at the same time I honestly can't tell you what the next step will be ... At this time, we don't trust them [the army commanders] at all."
An Al Jazeera reporter overlooking Tahrir said the side streets leading into the square were filling up with crowds.
"It's an incredible scene. From what I can judge, there are more people here today than yesterday night," she said.



Hundreds of thousands of protesters havehered
in the port city of Alexandria [AFP]

"The military has not gone into the square except some top commanders, one asking people to go home ... I don't see any kind of tensions between the people and the army but all of this might change very soon if the army is seen as not being on the side of the people."
Hundreds of thousands were participating in Friday prayers outside a mosque in downtown Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.
Thousands of pro-democracy campaigners also gathered outside a presidential palace in Alexandria.
Egyptian television reported that large angry crowds were heading from Giza, adjacent to Cairo, towards Tahrir Square and some would march on the presidential palace.
Protests are also being held in the cities of Mansoura, Mahala, Tanta, Ismailia, and Suez, with thousands in attendance.
Violence was reported in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, where protesters attempted to storm a police station. At least one person was killed, and 20 wounded in that attack, our correspondent said.


Anger at Mubarak statement


In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Mubarak said he was handing "the functions of the president" to Vice-President Omar Suleiman. But the move means he retains his title of president.
Halfway through his much-awaited speech late at night, anticipation turned into anger among protesters camped in Tahrir Square who began taking off their shoes and waving them in the air.
Immediately after Mubarak's speech, Suleiman called on the protesters to "go home" and asked Egyptians to "unite and look to the future."
Union workers have joined the protests over the past few days, effectively crippling transportation and several industries, and dealing a sharper blow to Mubarak’s embattled regime.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...158705862.html

[Nikki]

About time, the place was about to be demolished by his people over him. Look at the past few weeks, speeks alot. He should have done it sooner imho

[ZX7R]

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out now.

[GTI]

A great day for all Egyptians, I salute them for toppling a regime with the power of peaceful protest

[burner1]

A great day for all Egyptians, I salute them for toppling a regime with the power of peaceful protest

So do I, but I also wonder who/what will take his place, and also what other countries will take some initiative from this and how their regime will deal with it..... could be worrying times tbh.

[Mr Men]

About time, the place was about to be demolished by his people over him. Look at the past few weeks, speeks alot. He should have done it sooner imho

I disagree It was only a small minority in the capitals square that stood firm with this long protest,Im guessing 200,000 people

Bearing in mind the population in a 79,000,000 country did not have a demolish attitude.

[greens117]

Who's in charge now, the head of secret police.

[4me2]

A great day for all Egyptians, I salute them for toppling a regime with the power of peaceful protest

Lets hope they can show as much resolve against Iranian sponsored incidents that are likely to come upon them.