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>> welcome to bbc world news, broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america and elsewhere around the globe. we are looking at president h osni mubarak. >> to form a new government with new priorities that respond to the demands of our young people. we want to speak to all of the political parties. and what they demand of constitutional reforms. in order to restore calm.

but there are some political powers who refuse the invitation of dialogue and have held on to their own agendas without taking into consideration the critical condition that we are in and that egypt is in as a people and taking into consideration this refusal to dialogue, i direct my talk directly to the people with all of their backgrounds, to the farmers in the rural areas, to the people in the cities, muslims and christians, all over the country. i have never asked for this. i never asked to be president.

you all know the very difficult conditions under which i became president. during peace and war. i am and army man. it is not in the boat to betrayed what is interested in me. -- it is not in my nature to betray what is invested in me. to ensure the peaceful transition of government and to ensure that the responsibility goes to whomever the people of egypt used -- shoes. i did not intend to stand again

-- whomever the people of egypt choose. i am now very determined to make sure that whatever that i do, i finish my duty, keeping the peace in egypt. i will work in my remaining months as president so that steps are taken to ensure the peaceful transition of power in what the constitution gives me as rights. i call upon parliament to modify

article 67 in the constitution to modify the constitution. i call upon parliament to look at all the articles and laws that this entails. i ask the parliament to stick to the judiciary note -- judiciary, to look at all of the controls that have been taken into the latest parliamentary elections.

to insure reform, political, economic, and social reform, i call upon the police force and to respect their rights and freedom.

to follow up on the corruption charges and to investigate who was behind the looting and the violence period this is what i promise the people -- and the violence. this is what i promise the people in the few remaining months of my presidency. i pray to god that i am able to do this so that i am able to finish my presidency in a way that satisfies you and satisfies a god. my dear brothers, citizens, egypt will get out of this difficult conditions stronger than before, with more confidence and more stability. our people will come out of this with more awareness of what to do.

hosni mubarak who is speaking with you today is proud of all of the years he has served the people. our home country. this country. i have lived in it. and i have fought for it, and i have defended it. i have defended its sovereignty, and in this land, i shall die. history shall judge us. our home country lives on, and people will go on. we have to ensure our dignity and our freedom, generation after generation, our home

country. peace be with you. >> and there is the speech everyone was waiting for, the speech by president mubarak, talking about the final months of his presidency, assuring peace and stability, but calling on the parliament to start changing articles in the constitution affecting a presidential term, affecting the investigation into corruption. he has made a lot of promises to the egyptian people. joining me here now is a political scientist and close to the what was the ruling national party of egypt. what do you think about what the president had to say? >> i think he is a voice of

wisdom, and he views himself as a responsible president who listens to his people, and when people spoke, .he has to obey, and the people spoke. people were telling a very important message that now the time is over. and now, we have to move on. we have to have a more democratic regime. he is so accommodating. he tries to be accommodating. moments of threat, moments of need, he tries to be

accommodating. >> some would say that he has been forced to do it by the protesters. >> i am not denying that. nobody becomes accommodating unless he is forced. [laughter] >> we hear gunfire, and there were thousands of people who gathered in tahrir square. >> he has actually stood up. he has actually stood up. >> he is still in power. >> a promise that he would never run again. now, we need to make sure that he will hold up to his promises and that it will be a

transitional. it is not a cunning game, not anything else. >> but he still wants to maintain himself in power. >> yes, but the point is, yes, yes. he has to delegate his authority if in order to assure that he is really serious, and he wants to honor his promises. >> in you were a supporter of the -- and you were a supporter of the ndp. it was burned. >> protesters or some other organization. >> protesters.

>> i do not know about that. >> do you think there is a lesson in history? >> president mubarak does not know politics too much. he may no strategy. he knows a lot of military strategy. nitpicky is not very clever. -- he is not very clever. >> thank you very much for joining us here on this historic night. we go down to washington, where we heard earlier that they had been, and therefore president mubarak to basically stand aside at some point, saying publicly and privately in one way or another, and our state

department correspondent joins us. it is unfolding. >> you know, i am not exactly sure what the reaction is going to be in washington. the u.s. envoy who was sent to cairo, the former ambassador, he spoke to president mubarak. we know that for sure. that was confirmed to me by officials. we also know that he made it clear to president mubarak that he should not run for reelection or to put his son ford for election. -- for election. there was some hope in washington that president mubarak would listen to the people on the streets in cairo and know that it was time to go completely and not just to announce that re-election was not on the agenda. now, we have that he is not going to be in the reelection, so that is better than nothing. we have to see how washington

will korea. always, there is a difference between how they react in public and what messages they are relating to the egyptians and president mubarak. in public, the obama administration has been very careful not to be seen that it is dictating what a foreign leader needs to be doing. on the other hand, it also does want to make clear that it understands the grievances of the egyptian people, but it once the egyptian people to be able to choose to their next leader is -- it wants the egyptian people to be able to choose. there is a meeting between hillary clinton and the security council and others going on right now, and we will have to see if they come out with a statement later today. there is concern about the rising tension in the country. they do feel that the army is

behaving very adequately. we have heard some kind of praise almost from admiral mike mullen, the chief of staff. he seems to think that the army was behaving very well because of its calls to protesters not to lose, because of its recognition of what it called the disagreement of protesters -- calls to protesters not to loot, but the more the protests continue, the more there is a fear of continued chaos, and the tension could rise. the situation could change korea quickly on the ground. there is, of course, the fear of the sort of consequences this could have across the region, particularly when it comes to other american allies in the region, like the king of jordan and the king of saudi arabia. there was a condemnation of the protests in egypt, and they will

look to see how they are handling this. if washington comes up too quickly for the departure of president mubarak, that would not have gone daunt -- down well with the king of jordan and others. it is really a complicated game that washington has to play here, and it does not seem that there is any way to satisfy everyone, the allies in the region, the egyptian people, and even israel, which seems to be very unhappy with the way president obama has handled the crisis, telling president mubarak to leave. >> in washington. let's cross now to note tahrir square. -- now to the square. jim? >> they are watching him on the screen over my shoulder here,

and they erupted into jubilation. there were a few thousand at the square. they have now heard from president mubarak, and that was met with huge joint and eruptions of jubilation, because they have been waiting for this. it is hard to tell. i think they have a huge sense of achievement. it is what they have done in the last eight days that has brought about this tremendous development. >> jim, you have spent many days in the square. do you think this will be enough for the protesters? >> well, it is hard to say. before, earlier in the day, i asked people about the idea of him stay on until election time

and then standing down, and most people were against that. the people have had enough. they want a change now. but now that the reality is there, with the political leadership, the american embassy, they are being counseled about allowing mubarak to leave with dignity, allowing him to hang on for a few more months, and that the meantime, move forward with the process of reforms and legislation and preparing for free elections and so on, all of which takes time. everybody realizes that. you cannot organize free election in a few weeks, but months. it may be that the people decide that a few more months is not too long to wait. he has been in power for 30 years. >> jim, thank you very much for joining us from tahrir

square. here is what president mubarak had to say in that speech just a short time ago. >> what i want to do right now is to regain the comex. but -- regain the calm. and to ensure that the responsibility is to whether the people choose. i did not intend to stand again,

and i know very determined to make sure that whatever that i do, i finish keeping the peace in egypt. >> president mubarak speaking a short time to go. -- a short time ago. joining me is the the of a group, and is it enough, what president mubarak has done tonight? >> we are very disappointed, and we're very angry about this today. what happened today? we had very clear demands, and he denied everything we demand it. >> but he will soon be leaving the presidency. >> i think he has to go now, because the street is in very high anxiety.

i am afraid about what will happen in the future. >> what do you think will happen? >> i think the people will be very angry. i care about my country, because this way of thinking, it will destroy our country. i am very worried. >> the president of egypt said his first priority was to keep the peace and stability of his country. >> it is not like before, january 25. we have to change our vision to keep our countries safe, because we are very worried now. >> if a real process starts with the parliament changing the constitution, backed by the army, could this work? a matter of months? >> is not fair.

it -- it is not fair. there are many cases in the court. we have to cancel this parliament. we do not like to go to this parliament because it is not our parliament. >> and the dialogue, that president mubarak wanted? >> our negotiation with the man after him. no way. >> thank you very much for joining us tonight on this crucial night in egyptian politics. you saw his face, his "disappointment," he called it. joining us now is a blogger who

has been taking part in the protests at tahrir square. >> nobody can trust hosni mubarak. we have had a big mistrusted him for 30 years. -- mistrust of him for 30 years. again coat he was trying to accuse others -- again, he was trying to accuse others. it is the same. if he was a man who could hear his people, we might think about it again, but now, there is no way.

mubarak should go. we will not accept this. >> but what will you do now? >> simply, we will do nothing, and the people are in the streets. their families and their sons have been killed. they will stay in the street. they are more than ready to die to see that mubarak steps down. mubarak can go from egypt, but nobody can trust him. we totally believe that he will arrest people and that he will

play his games again and again. we cannot trust him. >> he has said that he is committed to carrying out political, economic, and social reform. you heard from the army that it is backing the legitimate grievances of the egyptian people. that is not enough of a commitment? >> mubarak said the same thing. the democratic reform five years ago and 10 years ago. the last time, when he was running, he said the same and more than that. we find this disappointing. >> i am sorry. we have to leave it there, but thank you very much for joining us, just one hour after president to host the mark -- president hosni mubarak.

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