CAIRO – Egypt exploded with joy, tears, and relief after President
Hosni Mubarak resigned as president, forced out by 18 days of mass
protests that culminated in huge marches Friday on his presidential
palaces and state television. The military took power after
protesters called for it to intervene and oust their leader of
three decades.
"The people ousted the regime," rang out chants from crowds of
hundreds of thousands massed in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and
outside Mubarak's main palace several miles away in a northern
district of the capital.
The crowds in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and
other cities around the country danced, chanted "goodbye, goodbye,"
and raised their hands in prayer in an ecstatic pandemonium as
fireworks and car horns sounded after Vice President Omar Suleiman
made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall.
"Finally we are free," said Safwan Abou Stat, a 60-year-old in
the crowd of protesters at the palacer. "From now on anyone who is
going to rule will know that these people are great."
Mubarak had sought to cling to power, handing some of his
authorities to Suleiman while keeping his title. But an explosion
of protests Friday rejecting the move appeared to have pushed the
military into forcing him out completely. Hundreds of thousands
marched throughout the day in cities across the country as soliders
stood by, besieging his palace in Cairo and Alexandria and the
state TV building. A governor of a southern province was forced to
flee to safety in the face of protests there.
His fall came 32 years to the day after the collapse of the
shah's government in Iran.
The protests have already echoed around the Middle East, with
several of the region's autocratic rulers making pre-emptive
gestures of democratic reform to avert their own protest movements.
The lesson many took: If it could happen in three weeks in Egypt,
where Mubarak's lock on power had appeared unshakeable, it could
happen anywhere.
The United States at times seemed overwhelmed trying to keep up
with the pace, fumbling to juggle its advocacy of democracy and the
right to protest, loyalty to longtime ally Mubarak and fears of
Muslim fundamentalists gaining a foothold. Neighoring Israel
watched the development with growing unease, worried that their
1979 peace treaty could be in danger. It quickly demanded on Friday
that post-Mubarak Egypt continue to adhere to it.
Friday was the biggest day of protests yet in the upheaval that
began Jan. 25. The movement grew for the Internet organizing of
small groups of youth activists into a mass movement that tapped
into widespread discontent with Mubarak's authoritarian lock on
power, corruption, economic woes and widespread disparities between
rich and poor.
The question now turned to how the military, long Egypt's most
powerful institution and now its official ruler, will handle the
transition in power. Earlier in the day, the Armed Forces Supreme
Council — the military's top body — vowed to guide the country to
greater democracy. State TV said a new statement by the military
would be issued Friday evening.
Vice President Suleiman — who appears to have lost his post as
well in the military takeover — appeared grim as he delivered the
short announcement.
"In these grave circumstances that the country is passing
through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position
as president of the republic," he said. "He has mandated the Armed
Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and
succor."
Nobel Peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, whose young suporters
were among the organizers of the protest movement, told The
Associated Press, "This is the greatest day of my life."
"The country has been liberated after decades of repression," he
said adding that he expects a "beautiful" transition of power.
Outside Mubarak's Oruba Palace in northern Cairo, women on
balconies ululated with the joyous tongue-trilling used to mark
weddings and births.
"Finally we are free," said Safwan Abo Stat, a 60-year-old in
the crowd of protesters at the palace. "From now on anyone who is
going to rule will know that these people are great."
Another, Mohammed el-Masry, weeping with joy, said he had spent
the past two weeks in Tahrir before marching to the palace Friday.
He was now headed back to the square to join his ecstatic
colleagues. "We made it," he gasped.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_egypt
