egypt erupts in anger

Egypt erupts in anger after Hosni Mubarak clings on

UPDATED From: AFP February 11, 2011 12:55PM

FURIOUS Egyptian demonstrators have vowed to launch their most spectacular protest yet after embattled President Hosni Mubarak refused to step down.

Many tens of thousands of citizens thronged Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo hoping to hear the 82-year-old strongman step down after three decades of rule. Instead he delegated presidential power to Vice President Omar Suleiman.

Mr Mubarak said he would remain nominally in charge until September, and vowed he would one day die in Egypt rather than seek exile, infuriating protesters.

The reaction was immediate, angry and dismayed.

Leading Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei warned Egypt was about to "explode" and called on the army to intervene.

Calling Mr Mubarak's speech an "act of deception'' on a grand scale, Mr ElBaradei told CNN that protesters are "so angry'' because they expected Mr Mubarak to cede power to a government of national unity that would lead Egypt to democracy.

"There is no way the Egyptian people right now are ready to accept either Mubarak or his vice president,'' Mr ElBaradei told the US television network. "And my fear right now is this will start violence.''

He called on "the army, to come to save the country ... from ... going down the drain,'' after having written earlier on the Twitter website that "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now.''

Mr ElBaradei said it was unclear whether the army would take the side of the people, even though there has been a rift between Mr Mubarak and the military.

Egyptians "always thought the army is a protector of people of last resort. If they feel the army is not taking their side... the people will go crazy,'' he warned on CNN.

Mr ElBaradei recalled that Mr Suleiman, whom Mr Mubarak recently named his first ever vice president, said Egypt does not have the "culture'' of democracy.

"No, I don't have any confidence'' in Mr Suleiman, said Mr ElBaradei.

The military leaders who have practiced dictatorship for decades "don't understand, let alone are willing to move Egypt into democracy, unless we keep kicking their behinds,'' he said.

Mr Mubarak's televised speech was met with angry chants of "Down, Down with Mubarak" among the more than 200,000 people who packed Cairo's Tahrir Square on the 17th day of massive nationwide protests demanding the strongman's overthrow.

Many of the protesters called for an immediate general strike and angrily addressed the army, which had deployed large numbers of troops and tanks around the square: "Egyptian army, the choice is now, the regime or the people!"

Following the speech, the bulk of the crowd began to disperse, but most vowed to return later today, which has already been declared a "day of rage".

Hopes had run high that Mr Mubarak would step down immediately after the military leadership had announced hours earlier that it would step in to ensure the country's security and see that the people's demands were met.

But instead, the strongman delegated his powers to Mr Suleiman and said he would remain leader through a transition process that will last until September.

Speaking on television soon after Mr Mubarak, Mr Suleiman urged protesters to go home or back to work.

"This is a critical time which requires us all to unite,'' Mr Suleiman said.

"Change has begun... The door is still open for more dialogue,'' he said.

"I am committed to do all it takes to ensure a peaceful transition of power based on constitutional provisions.

"The time has come to start work. We will all work as one team,'' he said.

"I call on all citizens to look to the future, to make this future promising and full of freedom.''

But as the protesters began peacefully filing out of Tahrir Square, the chants grew darker. "To the palace we are heading, martyrs by the millions!'' they shouted.

Earlier, the square had been bathed in a carnival atmosphere, as many tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered to celebrate what they hoped would be Mubarak's final speech of a three-decade-long autocratic reign.

When they realised he was refusing to step down, the mood changed and deep-seated anger rose to the surface.

The crowd chanted "Neither Mubarak nor Suleiman!'' as one elderly woman in the crowd moaned: "The old man just won't give up power.''

Supermarket worker Rahman Gamal, 30, said: "Omar Suleiman and Mubarak are the same. They are two faces of the same coin. Our first demand is that he leave. If he doesn't leave, I won't leave.''

"He is still speaking to us as if we were fools,'' said Ali Hassan, another protester. "He is a general defeated on the battlefield who will not retreat before inflicting as many casualties as he can.''

Thousands of the protesters have been occupying the square since January 28, demanding democratic reform and an end to the Mubarak regime. They have set up a sprawling tented encampment, surrounding by a cordon of troops and tanks.

By the end of Mr Mubarak's speech, he remained the country's president, despite conceding that the demands of protesters calling for his immediate ouster were "just and legitimate".

"I have decided to delegate power to the vice president based on the constitution,'' a frail Mr Mubarak said in a scratchy voice.

"I am conscious of the dangers of this crossroad... and this forces us to prioritise the higher interests of the nation.''

Mr Mubarak said he had requested six constitutional amendments to answer protesters' reform demands and that he would lift hated emergency laws - but with the caveat, when security permitted, a promise that his vice president made earlier this week but was dismissed by protesters.

"I have seen that it is required to delegate the powers and authorties of the president to the vice president as dictated in the constitution,'' Mr Mubarak said near the end of a 15-minute address on state television.

The article is used to transfer powers if the president is "temporarily'' unable to carry out his duties and the move ensures Mubarak's regime control over the reform process, falling short of protester demands.

Mr Mubarak also vowed to punish those behind violence over the past two weeks and offered condolences to the families of those killed.

He went on to take an apparent swipe at the United States and other countries that have pushed him to accelerate a transition to democracy, saying: "I have never bent to foreign diktats.

"I have always preserved peace and worked for Egypt and its stability.''

US President Barack Obama met with his national security team following Mr Mubarak's speech, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Earlier, Mr Obama said the world was watching "history unfold'' and directly addressed the young people of Egypt from Michigan.

"What is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold. It is a moment of transformation that is taking place because the people of Egypt are calling for change,'' he said.

Mr Obama said America would do all it could to ensure a genuine transition to democracy.

The Egyptian ambassador to the United States sought to clarify the situation by stating that Mr Suleiman is now the "de facto head of state'' of Egypt.

"The president indicated very clearly he was transferring all his presidential authority to the vice president,'' ambassador Sameh Shoukry told CNN.

"President Mubarak has transferred the powers of the presidency to his vice president, who now undertakes all authorities as president, so we can say that the president is a de jure president, and the vice president is a de facto president,'' he said.

"He (Mr Suleiman) would be in charge of the military, because all authority has been transmitted,'' Shoukry added.

The envoy said he had called CNN to clear up "maybe some confusion on your part in what the president did say,'' after widespread condemnation of Mubarak's decision not to step down.

Asked whether it was fair to say that President Mubarak now had no power, Shoukry, who said he was speaking at Suleiman's behest, replied: "That is certainly an interpretation you can make.''

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today that "change has to come" in Egypt after Mr Mubarak refused to quit despite the mass protests.

"We do believe there has to be fundamental reform. We do believe that change has to come,'' Ms Gillard said.

"We do understand the status quo is not a tenable position. But we do want to see peace in the transition.''

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that it was up to the Egyptian people to decide their future after President Hosni Mubarak's statement that he would stay in power.

"It is up to the Egyptian people to find a way and to do it according to their own constitution,'' Mr Barak told reporters today after a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"I think we should not pretend that we are more important for the Egyptian people than their own interests. I don't think I have to respond on this,'' he said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for an "urgent but orderly transition''.

"All we want in the UK is for them to be able to settle their own differences in a peaceful and democratic way," Mr Hague said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped Egypt will move towards democracy and not end up with Iran-style religious "dictatorship.''

"I hope with all my heart that the nascent democracy in Egypt will take the time to give itself political formations... to move along the road to democracy and not towards religious dictatorship like in Iran,'' he said in an interview.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Mr Mubarak's speech "was not the hoped for step foward.''

"The worries of the international community are rather bigger after this speech than before,'' he said, as he called on demonstrators not to resort to violence.

"We are counting on a peaceful transition,'' he said.

But demonstrators had the right to see their aspirations met "for freedom, democracy and the future,'' he added.

The European Union's chief diplomat Catherine Ashton said the time for Egypt to secure a change in government "is now".

"President Mubarak has not yet opened the way to faster and deeper reforms,'' Ms Ashton said in a statement.

"We will pay close attention to the response by the Egyptian people in the coming hours and days,'' she added.

"I will continue to engage with the Egyptian authorities to convey the need for an orderly, meaningful and lasting democratic transition.

"The time for change is now,'' she underlined.

Agencies