Cairo: Protesters have rejected a speech by President Hosni Mubarak in which he promised on Tuesday that he would relinquish power after elections in September, his most significant concession yet to an extraordinary public uprising, demanding that he step down immediately.
Mubarak has promised to leave at the next polls, and pledged constitutional reform.
Hundreds of thousands had gathered across the country in the biggest rally since protests began last week.
US President Barack Obama said an orderly transition “must begin now”.
In a statement after Mr Mubarak’s address, Mr Obama said the US would be happy to offer assistance to Egypt during that process.
But opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei dismissed Mr Mubarak’s move as “a trick” to stay in power, and protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square have vowed to continue their demonstrations until Mubarak quit.
After Mubarak’s announcement, some in central Cairo chanted: “We will not leave! He will leave!”
Abdelhalim Kandil, leader of Egypt’s Kifaya (Enough) opposition movement, said Mubarak’s offer not to serve a sixth term was not enough.
“I will tell you very simply that there is an unprecedented popular movement that rejects the presence of the president on a scope that has not been seen before, that is calling for the will of the people to be imposed,” he said.
If Mubarak does not step down, demonstrators are planning to march on the presidential palace.
“He needs to leave right now. We’ve already waited 30 years, and we don’t want to wait any more,” said Amy Hashem, 23, who was among the thousands of demonstrators who have vowed to occupy Tahrir Square, Cairo’s central plaza, until Mubarak leaves office.
“It would have been better for him to say, ‘I love my people and I’m leaving,’ “opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei said in interview after Mubarak’s speech. “Unfortunately, this will just extend the period of instability.”
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