Defiant Mubarak vows to finish term
CAIRO, EGYPT - Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has announced in a televised address that he will not run for re-election but refused to step down from office - the central demand of millions of protesters who have demonstrated across Egypt over the past week. His announcement follows a week of protests, in which millions of people have taken to the streets in Cairo and elsewhere. Mubarak seemed largely unfazed by the protests during his recorded address, which aired at 11pm local time on Tuesday.
Shortly after his speech, clashes broke out between pro-Mubarak and anti-government protesters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported. Rock-throwing youths at the city's Mahatit Masr Square scattered as automatic gunfire rang out and a tank advanced towards them before halting and then withdrawing. There was no sign of any casualties. Mubarak's words were unlikely to carry much weight with the protesters at Cairo's Tahrir, or Liberation, Square: they resumed their "Leave, Mubarak!" chant shortly after his speech, and added a few new slogans, like "we won't leave tomorrow, we won't leave Thursday ..."
Mubarak mentioned the protests at the beginning of his speech, and said that "the young people" have the right to peaceful demonstrations. But his tone quickly turned accusatory, saying the protesters had been "taken advantage of" by people trying to "undermine the government". Until now officials had indicated Mubarak, 82, was likely to run for a sixth six-year term of office. But in his address on Tuesday, Mubarak said he never intended to run for re-election.
MSNBC: Major Clashes Erupt Amid Cairo Protests
Jason Ditz: Mubarak: I’ll Leave in Sept; Egyptians: No, Get Out Now As [...] analysts praised it as an historic moment and President Obama telephoned Mubarak to let him know that the US now supports the notion of him stepping down, in September, [...] millions, on the streets of every major Egyptian city, [...] were far less impressed with the notion that their long-standing torturer-in-chief would have another seven months in office, seven months to kill and persecute his way into comfortable retirement.
Al Jazeera: Live Stream
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Antiwar: Torture and Terror: Litany of Abuses Fueled Protesters’ Fury
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Justin Raimondo: Egypt: Battle of the Narratives