CNN Egypt's Mubarak refuses to stand down

[Daniel]

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stubbornly clung to the presidency late Thursday night, refusing in a highly anticipated speech to step down by saying he does not take orders from anyone outside Egypt.

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stubbornly clung to the presidency late Thursday night, refusing in a highly anticipated speech to step down by saying he does not take orders from anyone outside Egypt.

However, Mubarak said he would "delegate powers" to Vice President Omar Suleiman according to the Constitution -- a major concession from the man who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years.

After the speech, parliamentary speaker Ahmed Fathi Srour told state-run Nile TV that Mubarak's move had put the authority for the day-to-day running of the government in Suleiman's hands. That would include oversight of the police, the Interior Ministry and other key agencies, control of economic policy and running any negotiations with the opposition.

Srour echoed Mubarak's statement in adding that the Constitution specifically prohibits the president from delegating other key powers to the vice president. As a result, the power to dismiss parliament or dismiss the government and the power to ask for amendments to the Constitution remain in Mubarak's hands, not Suleiman's.

"The vice president is the de facto president," Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, told CNN, shortly after Mubarak spoke.

His speech did little to calm the tempers of protesters in Tahrir Square, who were packed in like sardines and showed no sign of leaving after the speech.

"Get out! Get out!" they chanted angrily as Mubarak spoke. Demonstrators are demanding he step down immediately.

They watched his speech on screens hoisted above their heads up on the square. Quiet at first, protesters waited to hear what Mubarak would say. When it became clear he would not stand down, they erupted.

"Illegitimate!" they cried. "Mubarak, the coward, must stand down!"

In his speech, Mubarak stressed -- as he has before -- he would not run for another term in September. He also said he would move to repeal Article 179 of the Constitution, which allows Mubarak to send anyone suspected of terrorism to a military court, "as soon as we regain stability and security."

His comments came as pressure on Mubarak's regime intensified throughout the day.

Rumors had run rampant before he spoke that Mubarak was planning to step down. Many also had predicted he would deputize Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, to take control. For that to happen under the current Constitution, Mubarak must retain the title of president -- as he has.

Suleiman addressed the nation soon after Mubarak, urging Egyptians to remain calm and go back to work.

He said he was committed to doing "whatever it takes in order to have an orderly transition of powers in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution."

"Go back to your houses. Go back to your work. The homeland needs your work," Suleiman said.

Mubarak's refusal to step down caught the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama off-guard, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

"Not what we were told would happen and not what we wanted to happen," the official, who would speak only on terms of being anonymous, said of the speech.

The mass demonstrations, despite stern government warnings of military intervention, remained relentless Thursday, and thousands of workers in vital industries walked off their jobs in a show of solidarity with demonstrators demanding change.

The military remained out in force, and many believe Egypt's future hinges on the role it will play.

"Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now," Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, posted on his Twitter page soon after Mubarak spoke.

Earlier in the day, protesting lawyers toppled barricades near Abdeen Palace, the former home of Egypt's monarchy and a symbol of power. Armed police, who had disappeared from the streets of Cairo as the uprising gained momentum, waited behind metal fences.

But the police fled and the crowd surged amid the roar of thunder on a rainy day. "God is great," they chanted.

Unable to enter the palace -- which was under heavy army protection -- the group of lawyers headed to Tahrir Square, where on the 17th day of the revolt, massive crowds again gathered to call for the immediate departure of Mubarak.

The demonstrations were galvanized earlier in the week by the words and tears of freed cyberactivist Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a reluctant hero of Egypt's uprising.

Ghonim, on leave from his marketing job with the search engine Google in Dubai, was seized by security forces and held for 10 days before being released. He is credited with starting a Facebook page that triggered the protests.

Mubarak's foes were re-energized again Thursday by strikes called by petroleum, railway and telecommunications employees seeking better compensation.

Oil workers demanded transparency in executive salaries, said Hamdi Abdel-Aziz, a spokesman for the petroleum ministry.

National Railway Council employees called for longer contracts, prompting a pledge to extend them from their leaders. Some did not return to work Thursday, said Mostafa Qinawi, head of the Railway Council.

Employees of the steel industry and the Suez Canal Port Authority also took to the streets to demand better salaries, said the state-run al-Ahram newspaper. That sparked fears that the Suez Canal -- a significant oil transport hub and major revenue source for Egypt -- would shut down and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Egypt's finance minister said the nation will "do its utmost best" to ensure the canal remains open.

"All precautions are taken to prevent any sabotage from outside to the Suez Canal," Samir Hadwan told CNN. "The Suez Canal is safe and the Egyptian Army -- I don't talk on their behalf -- but I can assure you it will do whatever is in its power to keep that open."

In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest, street cleaners and administrative staff went on strike over what they say is a salary freeze. At least 1,000 engineers protested contracts and financial compensations, officials said.

Thursday's demonstrations unfolded with vigor despite escalating fears of a government crackdown. Key government officials have sought to portray an immediate departure for Mubarak as a recipe for absolute mayhem and warned of military intervention.

Human Rights Watch has been deeply critical of the government's handling of the crisis.

"Instead of running scared, the regime is fighting back with both words and violence to quash its opponents, portraying the opposition as a foreign-backed, un-Egyptian group of conspirators," the monitoring group said in a statement Wednesday.

The group has documented 302 deaths since the January 25 rally that ignited Egypt's revolt.

CNN's John King, Jill Dougherty, Ivan Watson and Amir Ahmed and journalist Ian Lee contributed to this report

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