Mubarak resigns, hands power to military

Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt and handed power to the military, bowing to the demands of protesters that have occupied central Cairo for the past three weeks demanding an end to his 30-year rule.

“Mubarak has decided to relinquish the office of the presidency,” said Vice President Omar Suleiman in a statement on state television on Friday. “He has instructed the Supreme Council of the armed forces to take over the affairs of the country.”

The resignation came after Egyptians streamed out of Friday prayers vowing to topple Mubarak, 82, after he yesterday defied calls for him to leave for the second time this month. Military helicopters buzzed the presidential palace at dusk and Arabiya television earlier reported that Mubarak had left Cairo for the Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The announcement opens a new phase in a crisis that was sparked by the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 and is rippling through the Arab world, which holds more than 50 per cent of the world’s oil reserves.

The army council, at its highest state of alert since the 1973 war with Israel, will likely face calls for immediate elections from the thousands of young protesters that have crammed Cairo’s Tahrir Square and used Facebook and Twitter to organise themselves.

Those elections may bolster the Muslim Brotherhood, banned by Mubarak, and other opposition groups shut out of power in the most populous Arab country.