WOW!!!Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

[esherrell5]

Middle East
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 16:16 GMT
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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.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

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".


Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage
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".

IN VIDEO

Thousands are laying siege to state television's office

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

[breather]

I would congratulate the poeple of Egypt for sticking to their guns without resorting to the use of guns. Peaceful transition can be brought about, hopefully, by peaceful demonstration.
Thanks.

[Jwdwrd]

Mubarak is Gone: The Day Young Arabs Will Never Forget
The past few weeks have been incredibly moving and emotional for me, watching millions of Egyptians take to the streets with fierce determination to bring fundamental change to Egypt. For those of us who grew up in the Middle East in the 1980s and 1990s, certain political figures and realities seemed completely unalterable, including political repression in large parts of the region, and the perpetual presence of iconic figures like Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak. Iraq and Egypt without them was kind of unimaginable.

That reigning order ceased to be perceived as indestructible in 2003, when the world's super power shook the region by removing Saddam Hussein from power. But that was hardly empowering to the Arab street since that destabilization was externally imposed by a very unpopular war that was vehemently opposed in the region (and indeed the world). If anything, the Iraq war only deepened the feeling of powerlessness in the face major tectonic political shifts which they could not influence in any meaningful way.

This revolution in Egypt is altogether different. Hosni Mubarak's regime was plagued by corruption, nepotism, and police brutality at home, and an unpopular foreign policy in the region. The regime also enjoyed US backing, which made it seem all the more unshakable. Undeniably inspired by the Tunisian example, tens of thousands of Egyptians defied all the powers that be by taking to the streets to demand an end to the Mubarak regime. Soon after, and despite lethal violent repression, they turned into hundreds of thousands. And shortly after that, they turned into millions, and finally earned their freedom.

The implications for the region are profound, from other Arab governments' accountability to their people, to the regional equilibrium and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Analysts and commentators will debate and speculate on (and activists and policymakers will try to influence) the exact shape of the aftermath of this revolution (it's useful not to get ahead of ourselves and paint an overly rosy picture because many uncertainties remain). But one thing is not in doubt: this is a new era for the region's youth who now understand that they can and will change the face of the region, and chart their own future. They owe it to the heroic people of Egypt and Tunisia who have inspired us all!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-b..._b_821920.html

[Jwdwrd]

Switzerland freezes any assets tied to Mubarak

The Swiss government on Friday froze any assets belonging to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or his family in Switzerland.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said the order to block any bank accounts takes effect immediately but gave no details on the family's assets. He spoke as pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo were jubilantly celebrating the announcement that Mubarak has resigned after nearly three decades of authoritarian rule and handed power over to the military.

Swiss Finance Minister Widmer-Schlumpf was asked earlier this week by Swiss national TV station SF whether Mubarak or his family had any money in Switzerland.

"We don't have any very clear indications that anything is here, but of course we're in the process of clarifying this and we'll act appropriately," she said.

She said the Foreign Ministry was investigating the matter.

At the end of 2009, Egyptian deposits in Swiss bank accounts totaled 3.6 billion Swiss francs (about $3.5 billion), according to the Swiss National Bank.


http://www.salon.com/news/egyptian_p...gyptian_assets