Mubarak steps down, celebrations in Cairo

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UPDATED 5.04 and 6.38 p.m.

Celebrations have erupted across the Middle East after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt's president.

From Beirut to Gaza, people rushed into the streets, handing out sweets, setting off fireworks and shooting in the air.

Vice President Omar Suleiman said in a brief televised statement that Egypt will be run by the army governing council.

The announcement was greeted by an explosion of cheering by hundreds of thousands of people who had packed the streets of central Cairo in the biggest manifestation in 18 days of protests. Many of them waved flags as they hugged each other. Some sat on the ground and prayed.

Earlier Mubarak and his family flew to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh while the protesters marched from Tahrir Square towards the TV station and the presidential square.

Mubarak was reported saying that he did not intend to leave Egypt despite stepping down.

Switzerland said it had frozen assets of several million dollars believed to belong to Mubarak.

Leading Egyptian democracy campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei cheered Mubarak's resignation.

"This is the greatest day of my life. The country has been liberated after decades of repression," he told The Associated Press.

The Nobel peace prize winner said he expects a "beautiful" transition of power.

Even in Israel, which had watched the Egyptian protesters' uprising against Mubarak with concern, a former Cabinet minister said Mubarak did the right thing.

"The street won. There was nothing that could be done. It's good that he did what he did," former Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who knew Mubarak well, told Israel TV's Channel 10.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, and there are fears the 1979 accord could now be challenged.

Moments after Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement of Mubarak's resignation, fireworks lit up the sky over Beirut. Celebratory gunfire rang out in the Shiite-dominated areas in south Lebanon and in southern Beirut.

On Al-Manar TV, the station run by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah faction, Egyptian anchor Amr Nassef, who was once imprisoned in Egypt for alleged ties to Islamists, cried emotionally on the air and said: "Allahu Akbar (God is great), the Pharaoh is dead. Am I dreaming? I'm afraid to be dreaming."

In Tunisia, where a successful uprising expelled a long-time leader only weeks earlier, cries of joy and the thundering honking of horns greeted the announcement.

"God delivered our Egyptian brothers from this dictator," said Yacoub Youssef, one of those celebrating in the capital of Tunis.

Tunisia inspired pro-democracy protest movements across the Arab world after a month of deadly demonstrations pushed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile in Saudi Arabia on January 14.

There was no immediate official reaction from Tunisia's caretaker government.

In the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas, thousands rushed into the streets in jubilation. Gunmen fired in the air and women handed out sweets.

"God bless Egypt, it's a day of joy and God willing all corrupt leaders in the world will fall," said Radwa Abu Ali, 55, one of the women distributing sweets.

Egypt, along with Israel, had enforced a border blockade on Gaza after the territory was seized by Hamas in 2007. There were some expectations that under a new Egyptian regime, the blockade would be eased.

"This is a victory for the will of the people and a turning point in the future of the region," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman.

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