[1]Dances with fellow Egyptians celebrating President Mubarak resignation- PHOTO:- AP
Egypt’s “Pharoah”, Mr Hosni Mubarak, resigned as President and handed control to the military on Friday after 30 years in power, bowing to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands. “The people ousted the President,” chanted a crowd of tens of thousands outside his Presidential palace in Cairo.
Several hundred thousand protesters massed in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square exploded into joy, cheering and waving Egyptian flags. Fireworks, car horns and celebratory shots in the air were heard around the city of 18 million in joy after the vice-President, Mr Omar Suleiman, made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall.
Earlier, the 82-year-old strongman had flown out of Cairo to his holiday retreat at Sharm el-Sheikh, on the Red Sea, his ruling party said. Mr Mubarak had sought to cling to power, handing some of his authorities to Mr Suleiman while keeping his title. But an explosion of protests on Friday rejecting the move appeared to have pushed the military into forcing him out completely.
Thousands marched throughout the day in cities across the country as soldiers stood by, besieging his palaces in Cairo and Alexandria and the state TV building. A governor of a southern province was forced to flee to safety.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/dances-fellow-egyptians-celebrating-president-mubarak-resignation-photo-ap-156