BY: S.K. Neff
SAN FRANCISCO (Politically Illustrated) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on Thursday he will not resign, but he would transform some powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman, saying, “I have faced death threats… I did not submit, nor yield to foreign dictations.”
“We have started a national dialogue, a constructive one,” said Mr. Mubarak. “This will put the country on the right track to get out of the crisis.”
Mr. Mubarak vowed to remain in office so he and his kid “could be buried in Egypt,” but offered to transfer some powers to Mr. Suleiman.
“Transition of power from today until September begins now,” said Mr. Mubarak, giving some power to Mr. Suleiman.
Omar Suleiman tells protesters to go home
CAIRO: Egypt’s Vice President Omar Suleiman on Thursday told protesters and strikers to head home or back to work, in his first speech after President Hosni Mubarak delegated him presidential powers.
Suleiman told “the youth of Egypt, its heroes, go home and go back to your jobs” in a televised statement shortly after Mubarak made an address formally putting his deputy in charge of government business.
CIA: ‘Strong Likelihood’ Hosni Mubarak Will Resign Tonight
SAN FRANCISCO (Politically Illustrated) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will address the nation late Thursday from his palace in Cairo, Egypt after the military took steps to safeguard the country from further unrest, saying, “I can say this is over.”
In Washington, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said there is a “strong likelihood” Mr. Mubarak will resign, but cautioned he had no “specific word.”
The announcement by Mr. Mubarak to address the nation comes after weeks of protests by individuals who ignored a ban on public gathering to take the streets against the 30-year rule of Mr. Mubarak.
At least several hundred have died from the clashes with policemen. The protesters, inspired by a successful revolution in neighboring Tunisia, battled tear gas and rubber bullets as they chased off police.
“I don’t know what the outcome of what is happening will be,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, sounding left in the dark. “Protesters in Egypt want to see irreversible change.”
Hosni Mubarak Doesn’t Resign, Cairo’s Tahrir Square Erupts with Anger
By TERRY MORAN, NASSER ATTA, JIM SCUITTO, BRIAN HARTMAN and HUMA KHAN
Egypt’s Embattled President Announces Reforms but Won’t Step Down Despite Protesters’ Demands
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he has transferred many powers to his newly minted vice president Omar Suleiman, but he enraged crowds gathered in Tahrir Square hoping to hear the embattled president say he was stepping down.
The crowd of hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tahrir Square hoping to hear Mubarak say he was stepping down went silent as Mubarak took to the camera. But towards the end of the speech, when it became evident that the president wasn’t resigning, the crowd erupted into a roar and began angrily chanting, “Leave now, leave now, leave now.”
Thousands of protesters are planning to take to the streets once again on Friday to continue calling for Mubarak’s ouster.
Shortly after Mubarak spoke, the supreme commander of the army sent a text message that went to nearly every cell phone in Egypt saying the military would have an important statement later tonight.
Suleiman, also speaking to the nation, told the country’s youth to go home and to not listen to satellite television. But the mood among protesters was hardly that of retreat. Instead, angry crowds marched towards the Egyptian state TV building in downtown Cairo.
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