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Graphic showing chronology of unrest
in Egypt
In Tahrir Square several protesters
fainted with the emotion of the moment following two
weeks of protest.
"We broke down the wall of fear,"
said Mohammed Gamal, a 21-year-old Cairo University
student, one of a new generation of web-savvy young
people behind the revolt.
"We changed our people." he added.
The plaza has become a focal point of
the revolt since protesters occupied it in late
January. Earlier Friday it was thronged by hundreds
of thousands of Egyptians who prayed and chanted
abuse at Mubarak.
Timeline: Unrest in Egypt
Outside the main presidential palace
in the Heliopolis neighbourhood, protesters shouted
"God is greatest" as they hugged one another or
danced. Some collapsed, overcome with emotion.
Tantawi later drove past the palace
and saluted cheering crowds.
"My message to the Egyptian people is
that you have gained your liberty," top opposition
figure Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview with
Al-Jazeera television. "Let's make the best use of
it and God bless you."
Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who last
week joined the crowds in Tahrir Square, hailed his
fellow Egyptians and the army for their "historic
achievement."
Elsewhere in Cairo, there were
celebratory gunshots, fireworks and the rhythmic car
horns usually reserved for weddings.
On Thursday night, hundreds of
thousands had crowded into Tahrir Square to hear
Mubarak announce he was stepping down as president.
Instead, he delegated some of his
powers to his ally and Egypt's former intelligence
supremo, Omar Suleiman, while vowing to stay in
office until September. In the end however, it
proved to be his last speech as president.
Israel, fearful the uprising might
open the door to a hostile Islamist regime in Cairo,
said Friday it hoped the transition of power in
Egypt would happen "smoothly," a government official
told AFP.
The official stressed the need to
preserve the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and
Egypt, signed two years before Mubarak came to
power.
The White House also called on the
new authorities in Egypt to honour existing peace
agreements with Israel.
Hamas hailed Mubarak's resignation as
"the start of the victory of the Egyptian
revolution" as thousands of Palestinians celebrated
in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.
Lebanon's Hezbollah congratulated
Egyptians on their "historic victory", as gunfire
and fireworks lit up the night skies over Beirut.
And in Yemen, thousands of people
took to the streets. Some chanted: "Yesterday
Tunisia, today Egypt, and tomorrow Yemenis will
break their chains." |
