Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak fired his Cabinet early today after protesters engulfed his country in chaos - battling police with stones and firebombs, burning down the ruling party headquarters and defying a night curfew enforced by the army.

In a nationally televised address, President Mubarak made vague promises of social reform but did not offer to step down himself.

He also defended his security forces - outraging protesters calling for an end to his nearly 30-year regime.

"We want Mubarak to go and instead he is digging in further," protester Kamal Mohammad said.

"He thinks it is calming down the situation but he is just angering people more."

Pouring onto the streets after Friday noon prayers, protesters ignored extreme government measures that included cutting off the internet and mobile-phone services in Cairo and other areas, calling the army into the streets and imposing a nationwide nighttime curfew.

Egypt's crackdown on demonstrators drew harsh criticism from the Obama administration and even a threat to reduce a 1.5 billion US dollar foreign aid programme if Washington's most important Arab ally escalates the use of force.

Stepping up the pressure, President Barack Obama told a news conference he called Mr Mubarak immediately after his TV address and urged the Egyptian leader to take "concrete steps" to expand rights and refrain from violence against protesters.

"The United States will continue to stand up for the rights of the Egyptian people and work with their government in pursuit of a future that is more just, more free and more hopeful," Mr Obama said.

Flames rose in cities across Egypt, including Alexandria, Suez, Assiut and Port Said, and security officials said there were protests in 11 of the country's 28 provinces.

Calling the anti-government protests "part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy legitimacy" of Egypt's political system, a sombre-looking Mr Mubarak said: "We aspire for more democracy, more effort to combat unemployment and poverty and combat corruption."

Still, his words were likely to be interpreted as an attempt to cling to power rather than a pledge to take concrete steps to solve Egypt's pressing problems - poverty, unemployment and rising food prices.

"Out, out, out!" protesters chanted in violent, chaotic scenes of battles with riot police and the army - which was sent onto the streets for the first time yesterday during the crisis.

Protesters seized the streets of Cairo, battling police with stones and firebombs and burning down the ruling party headquarters.

Many defied a 6pm curfew and crowds remained on the streets long after midnight, where buildings and tyres were still burning and there was widespread looting.

At least one protester was killed yesterday, bringing the toll for the week to eight. Demonstrators were seen dragging bloodied, unconsciousness protesters to waiting cars and on to hospitals, but no official number of wounded was announced.

Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading pro-democracy advocate, was soaked with a water cannon and briefly trapped inside a mosque after joining the protests. He was later placed under house arrest.

In the capital, hundreds of young men carted away televisions, fans and stereo equipment looted from the National Democratic Party, near the Egyptian Museum, home of King Tutankhamun's treasures.

Young men formed a human barricade in front of the museum to protect one of Egypt's most important tourist attractions.

Others around the city looted banks, smashed cars, tore down street signs and pelted armoured riot police vehicles with paving stones torn from roadways.

"We are the ones who will bring change," declared 21-year-old Ahmed Sharif. "If we do nothing, things will get worse. Change must come!" he screamed through a surgical mask he wore to ward off the tear gas.

Egypt's national airline halted flights for at least 12 hours and a Cairo Airport official said some international airlines had cancelled flights to the capital, at least overnight. There were long queues at many supermarkets and employees limited bread sales to 10 rolls per person.

Options appeared to be dwindling for Mr Mubarak, an 82-year-old former air force commander who until this week maintained what looked like rock-solid control of the most populous Arab nation and the cultural heart of the region.

The scenes of anarchy along the Nile played out on television and computer screens from Algiers to Riyadh, two weeks to the day after protesters in Tunisia drove out their autocratic president.

Images of the protests in Tunisia emboldened Egyptians to take to the streets in demonstrations organised over mobile phone, Facebook and Twitter.

The government cut off the internet and mobile-phone services, but that did not keep tens of thousands of protesters from all walks of life from joining in rallies after Friday prayers.

The demonstrators were united in rage against a regime seen as corrupt, abusive and uncaring toward the nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people who live below the poverty line.

"All these people want to bring down the government. That's our basic desire," said protester Wagdy Syed, 30. "They have no morals, no respect, and no good economic sense."

Egypt has been one of the United States' closest allies in the region since President Anwar Sadat made peace with Israel at Camp David in 1977.

Mr Mubarak kept that deal after Mr Sadat's assassination and has been a close partner of every US president since Jimmy Carter, helping Washington on issues that range from suppressing Islamist violence to counterbalancing the rise of Iran's anti-American Shiite theocracy.

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