President Hosni Mubarak provoked rage on Egypt's streets on Thursday when he said he would hand over powers to his deputy but refused to step down after more than two weeks of protests demanding that he quit.
The armed forces high command had earlier issued "Communique No.1", declaring it was taking control of the nation in what some called a military coup seeking to end the turmoil under the 82-year-old former general, who has ruled for 30 years.
"Leave! Leave!" chanted hundreds of thousands who had gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in anticipation that a televised address would be the moment their demands were met.
Instead, the former air force commander portrayed himself as a patriot and war hero overseeing an orderly transition until an election in September — in which he said last week he would not stand. Mubarak praised young people who have stunned the Arab world with unprecedented rallies. He offered constitutional change and a bigger role for Vice President Omar Suleiman.
Waving shoes in the air in a dramatic Arab show of contempt, the crowds in central Cairo chanted: "Down, down Hosni Mubarak."
Asked if Mubarak would step down, an Egyptian official had told Reuters before the speech: "Most probably". But his information minister had said that would not be the case.
Joy turned to despair and then to anger.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize winner and retired U.N. diplomat who runs a liberal political movement,
wrote on Twitter: "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."
DELEGATING POWERS
In a 20-minute address in which he said he would not bow to foreign pressure — Washington has called on its old ally to make way quickly — Mubarak said he would "delegate to the vice President of the republic the prerogatives of the president of the republic in a manner that is fixed by the constitution".
Egypt's ambassador to Washington said Mubarak had passed "all authority" to Suleiman, who was now "de facto President" while Mubarak remained head of state "de jure" — in formal law.
But Hassan Nafaa, an Egyptian analyst and government critic, said: ""Mubarak still holds the reins to power and he can easily and at any time retrieve Presidential powers from Suleiman."
Suleiman, a 74-year-old former intelligence chief who was promoted just last month, is not widely popular with protesters who are seeking a complete break with the military-dominated system that has governed Egypt for the past six decades.
Suleiman appeared on state television to say there was a "road map" for transition and said he would oversee a "peaceful transition of power" in the Arab world's most populous nation.