Mubarak's exit after nearly 30 years of autocratic rule was somberly announced on television by his hand-picked vice president, Omar Suleiman. The resignation made the 82-year-old former air force commander the latest and biggest casualty of a powerful pro-democracy movement that is surging across the Arab world.A joyful pandemonium gripped Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of 18 days of escalating demonstrations against Mubarak. Masses of Egyptians jumped up and down, pumped their fists, waved their flags, hugged and cried."Egypt is free! Egypt is free!" they sang. "The regime has fallen!"
Cheers erupted from streets across Egypt even before Suleiman stopped speaking.
"President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as president of the republic and has assigned the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to run the affairs of the country," Suleiman said. "May God help everybody."While Egyptians applauded themselves for toppling Mubarak, his fate was sealed by the military, whose leaders had promised not to use deadly force to put down the rebellion.
Earlier in the day, Egypt's military chiefs said they would guarantee a transition toward "free and honest" elections. But Suleiman's statement left unsaid how that would work, and who precisely would take charge in the interim.Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces includes the top service commanders led by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, the armed forces chief of staff.
Outside the presidential palace, where throngs had gathered, protesters erupted in cheers. They embraced, cried and waved flags frantically. Some began singing the national anthem.
As Egyptians flowed into Tahrir Square, they climbed over barbed wire barricades, chanting, "Freedom! Freedom!"One soldier watching the scene of euphoria said quietly: "I'm scared. I don't know what's coming.