Defiant but joyous protests up pressure on Mubarak

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged yesterday that he would not stand for re-election in September, in an address to the nation that came after eight days of anti-government demonstrations.

“I do not intend to run for another presidential term,” he said, adding that he would not step down immediately, as massive tides of peaceful protesters flooded Cairo and Egypt’s second city Alexandria yesterday in the biggest outpouring yet of defiance in a relentless drive to oust President Mubarak.

Several hundred thousand demonstrators massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre for a “march of a million” in the capital, and similar numbers turned out in Alexandria, AFP reporters said.

There were no incidents of violence reported anywhere in the country after the army promised not to fire on protesters, saying they had legitimate grievances.

Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, whom President Mubarak appointed on Monday as his first Vice President in three decades in office, said he had instructions to open a dialogue with the opposition but the offer was firmly rejected.

Opposition groups said there could be no negotiations with the regime until Mr Mubarak leaves and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, whom some consider as a potential figurehead for the protest movement, said Friday had been set as “departure day” for the veteran President.

US President Barack Obama called a high-level meeting at the White House to discuss the crisis as the New York Times reported that he had sent a message to Mr Mubarak through a veteran former diplomat urging him to announce that he would not stand in elections due in September.

The angry eight-day revolt – in which an estimated 300 people have died and more than 3,000 been injured – has sent jitters throughout the Middle East.

King Abdullah II of Jordan sacked his government after weeks of demands for change, Yemen’s President summoned Parliament ahead of a “day of rage” called for tomorrow, and a Facebook group of Syrian youth called for a peaceful revolution to start on Friday.

A committee of Egyptian opposition groups, which includes both Mr ElBaradei and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, pledged that there would be no negotiations with the regime until President Mubarak “leaves”.

Men, women and children swarmed Cairo’s streets from early morning, joining hundreds who had spent the night in Tahrir Square in tents or sleeping on the grass.

Protester Madiha Shalaby, 38, held aloft a sign in the square calling on the “US to support Egyptians”.

Basma Mahmud, 30, said: “We are waiting for them to say he has left, that he is on a plane. This is our dream.”

Chants of “Revolution! Revolution until victory!” rang out amid the festive atmosphere in the square.

Soldiers in tanks encircled the square but they held no fear for the happy crowds.

An army statement to “the great people of Egypt” on Monday said “your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people,” stress that “they have not used and will not use force against the Egyptian people.”

The long-feared police were nowhere to be seen on the streets.

The state MENA news agency reported that newly appointed Interior Minister Mahmud Wagdi had ordered that their motto be changed from “Police and People at the Service of the Fatherland”, to “Police at the Service of the People”, in an effort to change the force’s image.

The army’s position drew praise from Washington as Defence Secretary Robert Gates spoke by telephone with his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, yesterday.