Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, reacting to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, says: "This is the greatest day of my life. The country has been liberated."
Update at 11:08 a.m. ET: Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators erupted in jubilation in Tahrir Square as vice president Omar Suleiman announces that President Mubarak has resigned and called on the army to "run the affairs of the country."
Update at 11:05 a.m. ET: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigne.d Vice President Omar Suleiman said in a brief televised statement. His statement in full: "Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of presidency and told the army to run the affairs of the country. "
Update at 11:03 a.m. ET: Hossam Badrawi, who was recently appointed general secretary of the NDP, resigns saying Egypt needs new parties, Al-Jazeera reports.
Update at 10:42 a.m. ET:Reuters quotes a U.S. official as describing Mubarak's departure from Cairo as a "positive first step."
Update at 10:16 a.m. ET:Al-Jazeera TV reports that one person has died and 20 injured when a police station in north Sinai town of El-Arish came under small arms fire during protests.
Update at 10:08 am. ET: Reuters, quoting witnesses, reports 1,000 protesters in the north Sinai town of El-Arish have exchanged gunfire and tossed firebombs at a police station.
Update at 10:04 am. ET: Crowds move in large numbers from Tahrir Square in Cairo to the presidential palace ahead of an "urgent and important" statement from the presidency. Thousands of other have gathered outside Egypt state TV.
Update at 9:51 am. ET: Al-Jazeera reports that two helicopters have arrived at the presidential palace ahead of a statement by the presidency. Tens of thousands of protesters have surrounded the building in a peaceful demonstration.
Update at 9:36 am. ET: Egypt state tv says to expect a statement shortly from the presidential palace, Reuters reports.
Update at 9:14 am. ET:The Associated Press quotes a local official in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as confirming that President Mubarak is there.
Update at 8:39 am. ET: Denmark's prime minister has become the first European Union leader to publicly urge President Hosni Mubarak to step down. "Mubarak is history, Mubarak must step down," Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Friday in Copenhagen, the Associated Presss reports.
Update at 8 am. ET:Egypt's military is supporting President Mubarak's plans for a transfer of power, but is not preventing hundreds of thousands of protesters to demonstrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo and to gather outside both the presidential palace and the building housing Egypt state TV, the Associated Press reports.
Update at 8 am. ET: Al Jazeera TV reports that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is preparing to issue its third statement in two days regarding the transfer of power.
Update at 6:38 am. ET: Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate, says in a statement on Twitter that the "entire nation is on the streets." "Only way out is for regime to go," he tweets. "People power can't be crushed. We shall prevail. Still hope army can join"
Update at 6:18 am. ET: In Cairo, thousands of demonstrators are blocking access to the building housing state TV, Al-Jazeera reports, keeping some employees and guests from reaching the station. Al-Arabiya TV quotes witnesses in the Egyptian city of Suez as saying protesters there have seized control of some governmental buildings.
Update at 6:14 am. ET:Protesters at Cairo's Tahrir Square have finished Friday prayers, but it is unclear whether they will continue their demonstration there or march to other locations.
As thousands of protesters keep up their call for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces issues cautious statement promising free and fair presidential elections later this year and a conditional lifting of emergency law.
It did not specific a date for elections.
The statement also endorses Mubarak's transfer of power to his vice president and promises the lifting of the 30-year-old emergency laws "as soon as current circumstances end."
It is the second statement from the council within 24 hours as the stalemate continues in Egypt for the 18th day.
The statement, in effect, endorses the plan for transfer of power as presented Thursday by Mubarak in a national speech. In it, he announced the transfer of all presidential powers to his new vice president, Omar Suleiman, and the guarantee of free and fair elections in September.
The statement angered hundreds of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square. They vowed to continue their effort to force Mubarak from office.
Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate, issued a statement afterward on Twitter, calling on the military to take over power: "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."
The Obama administration says the voice of the Egyptian people "must be heard" and calls on the government to clarify its plans for a transition to democracy.
Socialist ass-hats think "There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." And yes, that IS from LF's answer to Ben Bernanke, go65, leading disfunctional and delusional socialist of the forum.
"You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free." Algren, "The Last Samurai"
Yesterday Mubarak said he would not step down and today he said he would. I wonder if Mubarak planned to step down yesterday and told the army this and then changed his mind at the last minute and now the army pushed him out? Because yesterday before the Mubarak speech it was army that was claiming Mubarak was resigning.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Of course Iraq had nothing to do with this flowering of freedom. In fact it delayed it because people saw anarchy and may have gotten second thoughts. This shows that Bush could have had democracy in the middle east much sooner and with no war.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Makes the Tea Partiers look rather stupid when compared to real revolution on the street.
The Egyptians did it without guns too, also.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
Yesterday Mubarak said he would not step down and today he said he would.
I think someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. Thomas Jefferson
I have faith they will. And I have faith they will honor the peace accords with Israel. In all the speeches and talk during the protests, I never heard anyone really get into the idea of making war.
They froze Mubarak's accounts and hopefully the people will be getting billions of stolen dollar's worth of loot back. So far things are going well, let's hope that continues.