Egypt's Mubarak agrees to step down -- but not yet
CAIRO (AFP) - – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election in September but rejected demands that brought a million people on to the streets around the country that he quit immediately.
The veteran president's announcement in a televised address drew angry jeers from demonstrators who again defied a curfew to spend the night in the capital Cairo's Tahrir Square -- epicentre of eight straight days of protests.
His insistence that he would remain at the helm to oversee the transition also fell far short of the demands of opposition groups that have set him a Friday deadline to quit to allow a clear break with his 30-year rule.
A US official described Mubarak's announcement as "significant," but acknowledged it might not be enough to calm the unprecedented wave of protest shaking Egypt.
Background: Mubarak faces a divided and diversified opposition
Despite years of studied ambiguity over whether he would seek a sixth term in September and his refusal until this week to even name a vice president, the 82-year-old insisted he had never intended to stay in office beyond this year.
"I say in all honesty, and without taking into consideration the current situation, I was not planning to present myself for a new presidential term," he said.
"I have spent enough time serving Egypt and its people.
"This country -- I have lived in it, I have gone to war for it, and history will judge me," he said to boos from the thousands of protesters still gathered at nearly midnight in Tahrir Square.
Egypt is "the nation I have defended and in which I will die," he said rejecting the possibility that he might flee abroad as veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali did in January after a popular revolt ended his iron-fisted rule.
Scene: In Cairo, checkpoints mark a city transformed
Mubarak said the country had a choice "between chaos and stability" after the clashes between protesters and security personnel that have left an estimated 300 people dead and more than 3,000 injured.
These demonstrations "went from a civilised expression of freedom of opinion to regrettable confrontations, moved by certain political forces which sought to escalate matters and add fuel to the fire," he said.
"My first responsibility is now to bring security and stability to the nation to ensure a peaceful transition of power."
Mubarak pledged to introduce amendments to the constitution to limit the head of state's term of office and to make it easier for people to field candidates in presidential elections.
Opposition leaders have long demanded such reforms but the ambitions of the protest movement go much further, inspired by the successful uprising in Tunisia.
"Leave, leave," the demonstrators chanted in Tahrir Square after the speech, echoing the demand voiced by the combined opposition earlier in the day for Mubarak to quit this week.
Opposition groups said there could be no negotiations with the regime until Mubarak leaves and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who some consider as a potential figurehead for the protest movement, said Friday has been set as "departure day" for the veteran president.
One protester addressed the crowd through a megaphone.
The president "is very stubborn, but we are more stubborn than he is," he shouted. "We will not leave the square."
Focus: Egypt's youth want slice of post-Mubarak pie
The anger at Mubarak's speech contrasted with the festive mood that had prevailed in the square during the day as tens of thousands gathered, buoyed by a promise from the army that it regarded the protesters' grievances as "legitimate" and would not open fire.
They were among hundreds of thousands who took to the streets across the capital, with a similar number in the second city Alexandria and smaller protests around the country.
Mubarak's announcement did go a long way to meeting quietly voiced US calls for him to make his future plans plain. A US official described it as significant but raised doubts about whether it would be enough.
"The president's announcement is significant, but the question is whether it will satisfy the demands of the people in Liberation (Tahrir) Square," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"What's clear is that this is a movement that is gaining momentum; it's not going to go away. And it's not likely to be enough," the US official added.
"The message was that his time in office was coming to an end. The question is whether he leaves now or leaves later, but our message simply was that you've got to recognize what your people are telling you.
"What's happened today shows that there's some recognition but the real question is will they (protesters) demand more, and it's entirely possible they will."
US President Barack Obama sent a message to the Egyptian leader through veteran former diplomat Frank Wisner earlier on Tuesday urging him to announce that he would not stand for re-election in September.
Writing in the New York Times, senior Senator John Kerry had made the same point.
"The most important step that he can take is to address his nation and declare that neither he nor the son (Gamal) he has been positioning as his successor will run in the presidential election this year," said the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But a committee of Egyptian opposition groups, which includes both ElBaradei and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, pledged that there would be no talk of a negotiated transition until Mubarak "leaves."
ElBaradei told Al-Arabiya television that Mubarak should leave by Friday.
Focus: ElBaradei no easy choice for Egypt, say analysts
"What I have heard (from protesters) is that they want this to end, if not today (Tuesday), then by Friday maximum," he said.
The angry eight-day revolt in Egypt has sent jitters throughout the Middle East and Obama called a top-level meeting at the White House shortly before Mubarak's speech.
Scene: Westerners take to Egypt's streets for protests
In Jordan, King Abdullah II sacked his government after weeks of demands for change, Yemen's president summoned parliament ahead of a "day of rage" called for Thursday, and a Facebook group of Syrian youth called for a peaceful revolution to start on Friday.
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