Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mubarak keeps title but "transfers powers" to VP Suleiman, former henchman



I am outraged. These are quotes from the CNN Live Blog from today: translations of Mubarak's speech on State TV, which was received tonight in stunned silence by a crowd of thousands in Tahrir Square. They are not silent now. How many people must die before he surrenders? (More than we thought--see below...)

[Update 11:00 p.m. in Cairo, 4:00 p.m. ET] The crowd in Tahrir Square erupts into roars of "get out" as Mubarak announces he will not step down.

"I will not submit to any international pressures," he says. "I love Egypt, I I have worked hard for its renaissance and I have never tried to have more authority, and I think the majority of other people here know very well who Hosni Mubarak is and it hurts my heart when I see and I hear from my own people."

We HURT his
FEELINGS???

[Update 11:05 p.m. in Cairo, 4:05 p.m. ET] "This guy is calling for more rage in the country," a protester in Tahrir Square tells CNN's Fred Pleitgen after Mubarak speaks. "This guy doesn't want to leave in peace."

[Update 7:49 p.m. in Cairo, 12:49 p.m. ET] The number of people killed in Egyptians' protests against President Hosni Mubarak could be two or even three times higher than previously estimated, a human rights activist on the ground warned Thursday. Human Rights Watch has confirmed about 300 deaths, said Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. But independent researchers have not been able to get information from many places, he said.

Very exclusive picture of President Hosni Mubarak and Vice President Omar Suleiman after the jump.


Hosni and Omar after their very trying day today.

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