Egyptian governement to resigns, protesters ask Mubarak to go

Jan 29th, 2011 by AfricaTimes.
The Egyptian government has resigned, state television announced on Saturday, hours after President Hosni Mubarak said amid nationwide protests that a new cabinet would be appointed during the day.

In his speech on early Saturday Mubarak promised new democratic initiatives without elaborating on specific reforms or addressing protesters main demands. He also promised fresh economic policies to alleviate poverty and unemployment, increase the standard of living, and combat corruption. Neverthless, his pledges failed to meet the protesters’ main demand. For the last four days, tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets demanding the ousting of Mubarak’s regime. Earlier today, Mubarak asked the military to intervene in the riots to preserve public order.
Thousands of protesters gathered in central Cairo today. Demonstrators poured into the downtown Tahrir square demanding again the departure of President Hosni Mubarak after his appearance on television. “Mubarak, out!” the protesters chanted, as army tanks were stationed around the square and with police notably absent. On Friday, Mubarak declared a curfew from 6:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) until 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez and asked the army to work with the police to maintain security and protect public establishments.
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