© Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty ImagesDemonstrators in Tahrir Square. President Mubarak had seemed on the verge of giving in to demands to resign.
President Hosni Mubarak dashed the hopes of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians celebrating what they expected would be his resignation speech by defiantly telling them he would not bow to domestic or foreign pressure to quit.
Mubarak said he would hand some powers to his vice-president, Omar Suleiman, but would remain in overall control until September to oversee what he called an orderly transition to an elected government. He repeated a pledge not to seek re-election.
He also said that there would be no going back on a commitment of long-term political reform after the two weeks of growing protests to demand his resignation. However, he ominously referred to the army playing a role in ensuring an orderly transfer of power.
The president's defiant tone angered the crowds packed in to Cairo's Tahrir Square, the centre of protests against Mubarak's 30-year rule, and may have set the stage for an ugly confrontation at the mass demonstrations called for across Egypt. Many of the protesters waved their shoes, a traditional sign of contempt, and chanted: "He must leave", and shouted "Mubarak you are finished".
© Dylan Martinez/ReutersNow you're talkin'! Doctors and nurses in Tahrir Square today, February 10
Egypt's opposition leaders immediately said they would escalate the protests which in recent days have spread to include strikes that have shut down the public transport system, some hospitals and factories.
Mubarak said he would transfer some powers to Suleiman to prove that the demands of protesters for political change will be met but did not specify which ones. But he rejected foreign pressure, notably from the US, to immediately take major steps toward democratic rule.
"I have spent most of my life in defence of our homeland," said Mubarak. "I have never succumbed to any international pressure. I have my dignity intact."
In the hours before Mubarak's speech, thousands of pro-democracy activists poured in to Tahrir Square for an impromptu victory party in expectation that the president was about to quit after 30 years in power.
The prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, and other senior politicians said they expected him to announce he would step down as the political crisis continued to deepen.
The mood of optimism was reinforced when General Hassan al-Roueini, the military commander for Cairo, told the crowd: "All your demands will be met today".
Hossam Badrawi, the new secretary general of the ruling National Democratic party, was quoted in the state press as saying he had requested Mubarak to transfer his powers to Suleiman, who had appeared to be effectively running the country in recent days.
© Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty ImagesEgyptian anti-government protesters shout slogans against President Hosni Mubarak at Cairo's Tahrir Square
But behind the scenes, a political struggle appeared to be under way over the terms of Mubarak's departure. The military's role was not immediately clear but the Muslim Brotherhood, a leading political force although banned, said it appeared the army had taken over behind the scenes. "It looks like a military coup," one of the group's leaders, Essam al-Erian, told Reuters. "I feel worry and anxiety. The problem is not with the president, it is with the regime."
The huge crowds served as a warning that the popular pressure for change is not likely to ease.
Besides Mubarak's resignation, opposition activists have been demanding an immediate lifting of the country's 30-year-old state of emergency, which has been used to lock up the government's opponents without trial. They have also pressing for parliament, elected in a tainted ballot last year, to be dissolved.
Some opposition leaders have said that they would accept an interim administration, controlled by civilians with a military presence, for up to a year to make constitutional changes to permit free elections and also to allow for the creation of new political parties and to give them a chance to become rooted.
Despite his defiance, Mubarak's position is increasingly threatened by the spreading strikes and protests. The regime had expected the protests to lose steam this week but the largest crowd to date descended on Tahrir Square on Tuesday as ordinary Egyptians sensed the government's weakness after it made a series of political concessions even if they fell short of the opposition's demands.
© Dylan Martinez/ReutersNewly-wed anti-government protesters join the demonstration in Tahrir Square
Doctors and thousands of other medical workers joined transport workers, Suez canal employees and thousands of other workers across the country in walking out.
On Wednesday, Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, rejected Washington's demand for a demonstration that major change is underway - specifically the lifting of the oppressive 30-year state of emergency, a particular grievance of pro-democracy campaigners - by saying that Washington should not "impose" its will.
The White House responded by warning that Cairo has not done enough to satisfy what the Obama administration has previously characterised as the legitimate demands of the protesters.
"I think it is clear that what the government has thus far put forward has yet to meet a minimum threshold for the people of Egypt," said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman.
Earlier this week, the US vice president, Joe Biden, phoned Suleiman, the former intelligence chief who is now overseeing dealings with the opposition and the promised political transition, to urge him to immediately lift the state of emergency.
© Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople there have described the atmosphere as "electric" - there may be more to this than they realise
© Tara Todras-Whitehill/APAnti-government protesters shout slogans in Cairo's Tahrir Square
© Yannis Behrakis/ReutersA baby joins the demonstrations in Tahrir Square
© Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty ImagesEgyptian anti-government demonstrators crowd into Tahrir Square as night falls in Cairo
© Felipe Trueba/EPAA young girl is held aloft surrounded by Egyptian flags waved by thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square
© Felipe Trueba/EPADemonstrators celebrate in Tahrir Square as rumours spread that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak would resign
© Yannis Behrakis/ReutersAn opposition supporter waves a flag commemorating 25 January, the day the Egyptian protests started
As a cadaver. He logic must be that he's already 82-year old & pretty sick. Must go out with a bang, thus. Power is quite addictive.