Fury Over Egypt Leader's Refusal To Leave Deepens

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CAIRO (AP) - Protesters enraged by President Hosni Mubarak's latest refusal to step down promised massive demonstrations Friday - possibly including a march on the presidential palace - as they warned that Egypt could explode in violence and pleaded for the military to intervene.

Mubarak gave most of his powers to his vice president but refused to resign or leave the country late Thursday, hours after the military made moves that had all the markings of a coup. The military gave no immediate response following Mubarak's speech, and its position remained ambiguous.

"We are waiting for a strong reaction from the army to Mubarak's speech," said Mohammed Mustapha, a protest spokesman. He said "huge numbers" of protesters were expected Friday and that many wanted to march on the Oruba palace, the main presidential palace several miles (kilometers) away Cairo's Tahrir Square, where the protests have been concentrated.

By early Friday organizers had not made a formal call for such a march, but hundreds of protesters already had gathered outside the palace in the hours after Mubarak's speech, according to witnesses and TV reports. The residence where Mubarak normally stays when he is in Cairo is inside the palace, though it was not known if he was there.


Around 2,000 protesters then marched on the state television headquarters several blocks away from Tahrir, guarded by the military with barbed wire and tanks. "They are the liars," the crowd shouted, pointing at the building, chanting, "We won't leave, they will leave."

Prominent reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, whose supporters were among the organizers of the 18-day-old wave of protests, warned in a Twitter message that "Egypt will explode."

"The army must save the country now," the Nobel Peace laureate said. "I call on the Egyptian army to immediately interfere to rescue Egypt. The credibility of the army is on the line."

Protesters' hopes that Mubarak would resign had been raised Thursday when a council of the military's top generals announced it had stepped in to secure the country, and a senior commander told protesters in Tahrir Square that all their demands would soon be met.

The military's Supreme Council, headed by Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, announced on state TV that it was in permanent session, a status that it takes only in times of war. It said it was exploring "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people." That suggested Tantawi and his generals were in charge of the country.





"This will push the country to the edge of the abyss," he said. "We will lay waste to our country if we march on the palace. It's a case of both sides sticking to their guns and at the end we will lose our nation."


Looking frail but speaking in a determined voice, Mubarak spoke as if he were still in charge, saying he was "adamant to continue to shoulder my responsibility to protect the constitution and safeguard the interests of the people." He vowed that he would remain in the country and said he was addressing the youth in Tahrir as "the president of the republic."


"I saw fit to delegate the authorities of the president to the vice president, as dictated in the constitution," he said.

President Barack Obama appeared dismayed by Mubarak's announcement. He said in a statement that it was not clear that an "immediate, meaningful" transition to democracy was taking place and warned that too many Egyptians are not convinced that the government is serious about making genuine change.

Suleiman was already leading the regime's efforts to deal with the crisis, though he has failed to ease the protests, which have only escalated in size and ambition, drawing crowds of up to a quarter-million people. In the past 48 hours they have spiraled even further out of control, with labor protests erupting around the country and riots breaking out as impoverished Egyptians attacked and set fire to several police and governor headquarters in cities outside Cairo.



Mubarak called the protesters' demands legitimate and promised that September presidential elections - in which he says he will not run - will be "free and fair" with supervision to ensure transparency.


He also annulled a constitutional article that gives the president the right to order a military trial for civilians accused of terrorism. He said that step would "clear the way" for eventually scrapping a hated emergency law but with a major caveat - "once security and stability are restored."


Before the night's dramatic developments, protests had gained a spiraling momentum. Protesters had been gearing up for even more massive demonstrations on Friday, when they planned to march from squares around Cairo into Tahrir.

After the speech, some protesters drifted out of Tahrir, tears of disappointment and anger in their eyes. But the majority of the crowd remained, camping through the night and vowing to continue their campaign.

Muhammed Abdul Rahman, a 26-year-old lawyer who had joined the protesters for the first time Thursday called Mubarak's speech a "provocation."

"This is going to bring people together more, and people will come out in greater numbers," he said.


Associated Press writers Maggie Michael, Hadeel al-Shalchi, Paul Schemm, Lee Keath and Marjorie Olster contributed to this report.
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