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>> according to the constitution, i am very well aware that egypt will come through this crisis and the will of its people will not be broken. it will stand again with the confidence and loyalty of its people, it will answer back against the enemies and will fight them off. we will prove as egyptians, our ability to achieve the demands of the people to a civilized and conscience this dialogue. we will prove we are not followed hours of others. we do not take instructions from others. and nobody can make or decide our deeds except the demands of the people and the call of the streets. we will prove this through the spirit and determination of the

egyptians and the unity these people, egypt's pride, and it's unique, significant, and eternal dignity. it has been here for more than 7000 years. its spirit will live in us as long as egypt and its people live. everybody, workers, farmers, intellectuals, will have this spirits. this spirit will remain in the heart of our elderly, use, muslims, and even in the minds of those who have not been born yet. once again, i would like to say i live for the sake of this nation. to protect its responsibility

and egypt will prevail above anybody and everybody. egypt will prevail until i handover a flag and my pledge. it is my responsibility, the dignity of life, and egypt will remain a country. we will not leave me and i will not leave it until i die on its soil. it will remain a dignified people throughout history with its head high and its flag floating with pride. my god protect egypt, a safe and secure country, may god help these people. god's peace be upon you.

>> president mubarak has addressed the nation, speaking in a patriotic voice to his people, calling on egyptian pride, saying he would carry out his commitments to insure the safety and security of his people, saying he would be handing over some of his powers to his vice-president, omar suleiman. but he made it clear he is not standing down anytime soon. let's go now to tahrir square. you can hear the reaction of the crowd as the speech was continuing and there is no sign the president was announcing he was stepping down. we heard angry remarks coming out of the square, warnings that the protests would be larger and louder. let's listen in to the sound of the square right now.

[crowd noise] >> a full transition. he talked about changing constitutional provisions which would change the requirements to run for political office, would insure supervision of these elections that will be held in september. absolutely crucial commitments that democracy advocates here have fought for for many years. he also mentioned the state of emergency, lifting it has been a key demand of the protesters and of at the negotiating team to the meeting with the vice- president. but tonight, president mubarak did not indicate when it would be lifted, saying that when this situation was stable, the state of emergency would go. for the very first time, he

expressed sadness for what happened to those who lost their lives in the square. he said he will have a full report into what has happened. he also tried to reach out to the young people, talking about how he himself had been young one day and made a reference to the wars he fought here, including the 73 war. he is regarded by many in the army as they were hero. he also wanted to reach out to the egyptian people and make them understand he was not going anywhere and he would keep his commitment as a president. he talked about egypt being in a difficult time, about the people of egypt being [unintelligible] and a that he and egyptians would not take a dictate from any other country.

let's get an assessment of this much-anticipated speech. i am joined here by someone who has been listening to it all. what is your first reaction? >> it is way below the expectations of the people who were there in tahrir square ready to celebrate the moment he drag on the speech and more of the sabres will of the last speech, young people on the square raised their shoes, which is the ultimate insult in this country in the face of anyone. there were great expectations he would go. he did not. he insisted to continue and would, drop by drop, giving it to the people. this is a disastrous scenario for egypt. >> but he made a major concession, saying he would delegate some of his powers to vice-president omar suleiman. he did not specify which ones they were. how significant is that? >> for me, it is significant that he caved in to the demands.

he delegated power, some of his authorities to his vice- president. but this is not what the people want. what matters is the street. the people on the street. the way he talked about foreigners and he would not take the state, all this would not wash with the egyptians. this was a last attempt at egyptian nationalism. these people would see these are dictates from the west that he should go. this will not wash. these young people are too smart to be played out like this. i think there were great expectations and he fell way below these expectations. i am afraid for egypt "-- i am worried for egypt tomorrow. >> what is your worst fear? >> by worst fear is i did not know whether the disaster will start tonight or tomorrow. but we are in for a big, big confrontation. i hope the egyptian army will

not confront its own people. its people are absolutely angry on the streets. the person who wrote that speech is it totally out of touch, living in a bubble that never landed in egypt for all of these days we have been through. >> what about the army? until past midnight, around 18 of these protests, it was said it was there to protect the people. they told the people in the square that all of your demands will be met. and tonight, the people found out that was not true. >> i think it is the last ditch attempt to diffuse this big demonstration tomorrow. the army was worried. they tried to say let's put him on the screen and watch people's reaction. if people's reaction is ok, like the last speech, can divide people 50/50, then we can continue a little more. but if it is a disaster, someone has to walk into his office and

tell him, mr. president, it is time to go. >> stay with us for a moment. we're going to join one of the protesters' among the many thousands in tahrir square who has been listening to the speech and joins us now. your reaction to what the president has had to say and the reaction to those around you? >> extreme disappointment in tahrir square tonight. this was not the speech the nation was waiting for. this was not a speech the protesters were waiting for. right now, there seems to be confusion, people walking out of the square very disappointed you have more people saying they're going to get a good night's sleep before they come back to our offer and other very large protests in cairo. >> we had heard earlier today even before we had indications the president would speak tonight that there were plans to

try to move on egyptian state television, which is not far from where you are speaking now. even talking about moving on the presidential palace. it is highly guarded now by armored vehicles. will those plans now be revised? >> it is not entirely clear what the plans will be for tomorrow. it is certain now that after this speech, people are quite angry, angrier than they have been before. i think the protesters are sick of the soap opera. they are sick of waiting for speeches that did not answer their demands and it is reaching a point where people really want to see that change and really want to see him out. >> how do you view the fact he has given up some of his power? he has given them to vice- president omar suleiman.

do you regard that as a victory? >> i cannot speak for everybody, but right now, it is not about him and giving away his powers. right now, it is a symbol of him in power that is the issue. he needs to be out of the picture to get this country moving along. he mentioned egypt was going through a hard time and would face economic hardships. i think the longer he stays in power, the longer he drags out of this soap opera, the more difficulty and hardship we're going to see in egypt. i think people are fed up. >> it is early in the morning. is cold. do you sense a lot of people will spend tonight in the square

now? >> definitely. tahrir square has become a little city in and of itself. there are tents and utilities. there are a lot of people who will spend the night here tonight again and are intent on staying here until they hear the message they have been waiting to hear which is that mubarak needs to go. >> thank you for joining us. we're going to stay in the square. you must know that the reporting has changed dramatically in recent day. -- in recent days. what would be the headline if you are writing it? >> i cannot say with the headlines tomorrow will be, but i can tell you the headline now

is that thousands of angry egyptians, masses are moving now to where the presidential palace -- i don't think -- i don't expect these angry masses to go home for wait until tomorrow and move into big demonstrations. these people are not going to go home. i can describe the scene -- it is not just here -- all the streets are packed, leading to downtown, people have moved and i am among thousands moving to where the presidential palace is, chanting and down with the regime, down with their regime. >> to remind our viewers, the palace's 15 to 20 kilometers away. are they going to march all the

way they're on foot? >> i guess so. you don't know how things will go, but i can tell you that thousands are moving in that direction. since the start of the the revolution, we have been walking very long distances. on bloody friday, on the 28, more than 300 people were killed by police, people have been moving and walking long, long distances. you can hear people chanting color revolution, revolution until victory. victory here means that this regime has to go down. it is not about mubarak. we don't want the military, we don't want a police state anymore. we want a modern, secular state.

>> what is the army doing? have they noticed the crowd moving out? >> i don't know. it is hard to tell what the army is going to do, but the army is on the side of the people. >> when you look at the crowds moving out, what kind of people are they? are there mainly the under protesters or is it still at this early hour in the morning, i cross-section of egyptian society? >> i can see children. i can see young people. i can see old people. i can see women. i can see muslims, i can see coptics, i can see everyone who has been watching this scene. they are moving independent of

their actions. as you can hear, the crowd now, people want to trial mubarak and his regime. >> thank you for joining us from tahrir square. thousands are now moving out of the square in reaction to the president's speech in which, contrary to expectations of some, he did not either step aside or step down. let's hear some of what he had to say about his powers. >> i thought to transfer powers of the president to the vice- president according to the constitution. i am very well aware egypt will come through the crisis and the will of its people will not be broken. it will stand on its feet again with the confidence, loyalty of

its people and it will answer back against the enemies and will fight them off. we will prove as egyptians our ability to achieve the demands of the people through a civilized and conscientious dialogue. we will prove we are not followers of others and we did not take instruction from others. nobody can make or decide our deeds. >> president mubarak speaking just a short while ago on egyptian state television. let's go to the northern coastal city of alexandria and return to someone we spoke to just a short time ago. you say that you expected to hear from president debark that he is standing down. he has not done that -- from president mubarak that he is stepping down. he has not done that. what is your reaction?

>> i am extremely disappointed. it is obvious that people in tahrir square are disappointed. for me, it was too late for this step. maybe a few days ago, people would have accepted it with more open arms, but these days, nobody accepts omar suleiman anymore or the prime minister. i have seen a video of omar suleiman saying the egyptians, those revolutionaries are directed by foreign agendas and have no idea what they're doing. they do not know what democracy is. he is talking in a very undermining town. he was completely unsympathetic in saying the revolutionaries are just following a trend. i don't think anything is going to change under this government. i think more corruption will happen even after the constitution changes. i am -- i am expecting very furious protests here and a lot

of people will be joining in tahrir square tomorrow. >> he talked about keeping his pledges and a peaceful transition. he promised to change the constitution and left the state of emergency when he says the situation was stable. but even that is not enough. these are concessions that have been demanded for many years. >> all lot of people might look at this as a game, but after 30 years of broken promises, it is hard to accept. you want to see that change in front of your eyes. the problem is he is a symbol for this corruption and that is why he needs to go. i think there is a psychological and acceptance for him. there is a sense of a vendetta over the last two weeks and we hear of more and more killings that were undeclared and more and more uploaded and videos

from itself phones showing how people were brutally killed. there is a lot of vengeance inside of people. they just want him out side of the picture and during the revolution, it is very hard to control these feelings. >> thank you very much for joining us. we're going to washington in just a moment, but let me bring in an egyptian scala -- an egyptian scholar. people are now moving out of the square, saying they're going to march on the presidential palace. that is about 50 or 20 kilometers away. if they start moving in large numbers, will the army stand by? >> this is a watershed moment for the army. they have to decide which side they will take. it is very difficult. it is not the first time people

around market gave him a distorted picture of what is going on in the country. what is going on, we don't really think [inaudible] the speech was written before the january world. they have no idea of what has taken place on the ground. i have so much worry about this city we are in and will happen. mubarak's regime has only a few hours to decide. is it mubarak or egypt. the next few hours, we will see something different if they do not accept the demands of the people. i think we are in for something ugly tomorrow. >> let's go to washington for a moment. that speech would have been listened to very carefully there. we are joined by our correspondent.

it may be too early to have a reaction from washington, but giving a warning that people are moving out of the square, that cannot help but worry washington as well. >> that is not the message that officials here in washington were expecting to hear. just a short while before mr. mubarak went on state television, barack obama told audiences that an event in michigan that we're witnessing history unfold. a very optimistic but short statement from mr. obama. evans in cairo suggesting rather different picture. in some sense, washington has got what it has been pushing for behind-the-scenes for some time. mr. mubarak handed over power to his vice-president, talking about constitutional amendments, but he is insisting he will stay in place through elections in september and talked only of opening the door to lifting egypt's emergency law.

from the pictures we have seen in cairo, it is not what to the protesters wanted. i do not think it is what mr. obama had in mind. he is right now on air force one traveling back to washington and it will be interesting to see how quickly he does or does not come out to make a public statement about this. i think the white house will say what it has said throughout, we must watch and wait and this crucial line that has been repeated again and again, the egyptian people are going to be the drivers of this process. washington wants to be on the right side of history in the grand scheme of things and it does that by siding with the egyptian people, couching its arguments in terms of the egyptian people, but it is clear here this evening that events have not gone as officials of washington were expecting. >> i think what president mubarak would say is that it does not matter. he said a few times in his

speech that egypt would not be dictated to by foreign powers. egypt would decide its own fate and sending a very clear message. we have heard statements by senior officials close to president mubarak telling the united states to back off, that egypt was in the driving seat and of the leaders would decide. this puts the u.s. administration in a very difficult position, notwithstanding the $1.5 billion that comes to egypt every year and the egyptian army. >> everything points to the fact that behind-the-scenes, arab countries have been telling washington to back off. that line in the statement was almost -- he said he would not listen to dictates from other countries. barack obama got on the fund to egypt very quickly and the two men spoke for half an hour in was described as a tense and frank conversation. president obama came out and

gave his interpretation of events immediately afterwards. it may be that this evening, barack obama chooses to watch and wait and he will be huddled with his advisers on air force one and members of the national security council traveling with him. >> it do we know what is happening behind the scenes? we know that vice-president joe biden spoke to egyptian leaders had made it clear they want to see progress. he talked about looking -- he talked about lifting the state of emergency. president mubarak said that would only be done with the situation is stable, which suggests it could be a long time to come. but we can imagine the behind- the-scenes conversations, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has been speaking to the chief of staff here almost on a daily basis. >> i think the most important thing behind-the-scenes has been the military to military contact. the united states has seen the egyptian military is absolutely

key and we see statements -- >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

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