Mubarak Asserts He Will Not Step Down

Despite a flurry of reports that the embattled Egyptian president would announce his resignation, he took to state TV to say he will not leave Egypt's soil until he is buried beneath it.

The mood Cairo’s Tahrir Square turned from excitement into anger as the announcement many were expecting from Hosni Mubarak did not materialize. While sources inside the government had indicated he would resign as mass demonstrations against his rule stretch until their third week, instead Mubarak addressed the nation in a taped speech and listed off a string of constitutional amendments, said he will eventually curb the emergency law Egypt has been under for decades, and delegated some of his power to his vice president Omar Suleiman. He also said he lived for Egypt and will die in Egypt. His concessions, which were already considered a fait accomplis by many, will do little to quell the populist sentiment against him and instead could even risk inciting angrier demonstrations. Hundreds of thousands remain on the streets of Cairo.