Mubarak Steps Down as President

[The Catboy]

Egypt's embattled President Hosni Mubarak abruptly stepped down as president, ending his 30-year-rein, and Egyptian armed forces will take over the leadership of the country, vice president Omar Suleiman announced today.

Crowds gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted into loud cheers, chanting "Egypt is free," as the historic announcement was made.

"My fellow citizens. In this difficult time that the country is going through, the president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has decided to relieve himself of his position as president and the Supreme military council has taken control of the state's affairs. May God protect us," Suleiman said during his somber one-minute announcement on TV.

Mubarak left the presidential palace in Cairo earlier today as protesters kept the pressure on the government to force Mubarak out of office.

Sources tell ABC News that the 82-year-old president has gone to an estate he owns in Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort town on the Red Sea about 250 miles from the protests in Cairo. Mubarak told ABC News last week he may eventually retire to the resort town, but vowed never to leave Egypt.

A senior Egyptian official told ABC News Mubarak's departure from the palace was intended to be symbolic, as well a visual withdrawal from the political process after having handed over most of his authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman. But the move does not preclude him from returning or inhibit his ability to oversee constitutional amendments, the official said.

In a sign that the regime may be shaky, Hossam Badrawi -- who was appointed head of the ruling party just days ago -- announced that he will resign from his post. Badrawi was widely cited by news outlets on Thursday as saying that Mubarak would step down, reports that turned out be false.

The military earlier today announced on state television that the regime's much hated emergency law will be lifted when the security situation allows -- echoing Mubarak's statement from Thursday -- and encouraged protesters to leave the streets and return to their homes.

Egypt's controversial emergency laws have been in place since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1967 and give the government far-reaching powers at the expense of judicial review and civil liberties.

Source/Rest of the Story

 

[B-Blue]

 

[ManFranceGermany]

Congratulations to all Egyptians!
Now show the world that Egyptians are capable of having a working democracy, which respects the rights of all humans, no matter which gender, Religion or Skin color they have.

 

[CarbonX13]

About time. Things were really getting out of hand.

 

[The Catboy]

I should so add that the post

 

[MelodieOctavia]

I actually cheered a little at my PC.

 

[trumpet-205]

I wouldn't say Egypt is free, since military is running the government for now.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

This won't fix everything, but it's a step in the right direction!

 

[Pyrmon]

YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
MY country is now FREE!!!!
So leaving school today and partying all weekend!
Hopefully I'll see my aunt soon too

 

[AlanJohn]

PARTY TIME!

 

[DeadLocked]

That's weird, I just read an article about him refusing to step down.
Then I play "Killing in the name" on guitar for a while.
Then I refresh and it says he HAS stepped down.

you welcome, egyptians.

 

[Crass]

I wouldn't say Egypt is free, since military is running the government for now.

They're system is a bit different than ours, and in this case the military is a relatively neutral body. It's not like the US, where the commander-in-chief is also the President.

 

[BlueStar]

I wouldn't say Egypt is free, since military is running the government for now.

That's a bit of a problem, but the plus side is that the Egyptian miliaty is very well respected by all sides, and hasn't been instrumental in propping up Mubarak. They need to play a role to ensure that Mubarak doesn't just instal a puppet and that free and fair elections can take place without groups trying to seize power.

Considering his announcement yesterday, I think it's fair to say this isn't his choice - he's been told by the military and his own party members to hop it.

 

[Vidboy10]

So this is there current acting president.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Hussein_Tantawi

I have a feeling these protests are far from over.

 

[BlueStar]

Either way, the popular uprsing has alredy acheived so much and true reform now looks inevitable, eventually. The Egyptian people should be extremely proud of themselves.

 

[injected11]

Hooray for Egypt! Hopefully this only leads to better things for them.

Off-topic: Does anyone else think Mubarak looks insanely young for an 82 year old? Just looking at pics, I would have guessed late 50s - mid 60s.

 

[Pyrmon]

Hooray for Egypt! Hopefully this only leads to better things for them.

Off-topic: Does anyone else think Mubarak looks insanely young for an 82 year old? Just looking at pics, I would have guessed late 50s - mid 60s.

That's because he uses the population's money to get rejuvenating treatments.

 

[The_Dragons_Mast]

Today is a great day here in egypt that pig have been killing & stealing for decades and he finally got kicked out and people here will be celebrating till tomorrow

oh and for why he looks too young he spend about 2 hours dying his hair & applying makeup by professionals before appearing in front of any camera.

 

[ManFranceGermany]

Switzerland orders freeze on Mubarak assets

GENEVA—The Swiss government on Friday ordered a freeze on any assets belonging to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage shortly after he was forced from office, the foreign ministry said.

"The Federal Council (government) has decided to freeze any assets of the former Egyptian president and his entourage in Switzerland with immediate effect," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that the freeze was aimed at preventing any risk of embezzlement of Egyptian state property.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Some Rumors say, that he owns over 40 billion Dollar.

 

[BlueStar]

Today is a great day here in egypt that pig have been killing & stealing for decades and he finally got kicked out and people here will be celebrating till tomorrow

oh and for why he looks too young he spend about 2 hours dying his hair & applying makeup by professionals before appearing in front of any camera.

Congratulations!

Can you please reassure some of our more paranoid friends across the Atlantic that you're not going to put the Muslim Brotherhood into power and go on a crazed mission to destroy Israel?