Mubarak refuses to step down

Despite President Mubarak's claims earlier today that he would step down after the military declared that they were siding with the protesters, things changed after he gave what was expected to be his resignation speech earlier tonight.

When General Hassan Ruwaini told the Egyptian people today that "All your demands will be met today", what was once just protest became celebration. With the backing of the military it was thought that the people finally had their voices heard.

A crowd numbering in the thousands gathered in Tahrir Square to await the president's resignation, however when it came time for Mubarak to address the Egyptian people, instead of announcing his resignation as most believed he would, he stated that he would remain in power as "the president of the republic". He went on further to state that he was:

"adamant to continue to shoulder my responsibility to protect the constitution and safeguard the interests of the people."

Upon hearing Mubarak's claims to remain in power, the crowd went silent. But soon a chant of "Erhal! Erhal!" ("Leave! Leave!") with many taking off and holding their shoes up in a classic sign of protest in the region. Yet despite hearing such enraging news, the protesters remained true to their statements of non-violence. Even with the size of the protesting crowd as the working class joining in on the strikes and protests, even with the transportation system's workers strike leaving the area in disarray, the protesters have not become violent. Even despite protesters continuing to be abducted and a death tole above 300, they remain true to their goal of peaceful protest to establish a new democratic Egypt.

Mubarak has stated that he will transfer some power over to his VP Omar Suleiman, but that he will remain the head of the government. The government later declared that it will form a fact-finding committee to look into the "unfortunate events" behind the protester casualties on February 2nd. The state prosecutor has also launched a corruption investigation against three former government ministers and a parliament member in an attempt to assuage the protesters. Thus far none of these statements have been seen as acceptable by the Egyptian people.

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References:
ABC News
Huffington Post
Los Angeles Times