>> and now, "bbc world news." >> you are watching bbc news. i'm in the egyptian capital, cairo, with our continuing coverage of the crisis in egypt. egypt's president says he is not stepping down now, and the protesters remain as determined as ever. this is the scene, live from tahrir square where thousands of demonstrators listened to the president tonight. president mubarak said he will stay on as head of state until the next election, although he has transferred some of his power to his vice president. the vice-president, omar suleiman, also addressed the nation. he called on the protesters to go home and said the egyptians must unite. but the opposition warns that

egypt will explode when the opposition leader called on the army to save the nation. welcome to the egyptian capital, cairo. this is the scene live from tahrir square tonight as protesters come to terms with the speech by their president. contrary to their expectations and hopes, the president said he is still staying in power to keep his promise of a peaceful transition of power, but president mubarak did tell the nation that he was transferring some of his powers to his vice- president, omar suleiman. his announcement was responded to with anger and fury and despair by the protesters who

have gathered for the last 17 days. not just in central cairo, but in many other cities of egypt. there are reports tonight that some protesters have left the square and moved towards state television buildings. there are also some reports of protesters vowing to march towards the presidential power -- the presidential palace some 20 kilometers away. omar suleiman also address the nation tonight in which he said he would be responsible for overseeing the peaceful transition. he promised that these promises would be kept, but he called on the protesters to go home. we are also expecting a statement from the army. earlier today, they told the protesters that all their demands would be met. they said the army council would be meeting in continuous sections and said -- continuous sessions and said that the army's path was to protect the

nation, so where is the nation going now? i'm joined by my colleague from bbc's arabic television. the mood has shifted so dramatically in recent hours. you could feel the celebration in the street -- horns honking, people waving victory signs in the squares with anticipation. how would you describe it now? >> definitely, it has changed tremendously, especially in tahrir square. expectations were raised so high that mubarak would step down, and now, frustrations are so big. some groups have started marching on to the presidential palace, which is some 20 kilometers away from tahrir square. they have already covered 1/3 of the distance, as we understand. they reached the palace, that would be an unprecedented development.

no one knows what could happen. the armed forces are there. they have vowed not to crush protesters or use violence against them, but they are also the presidential guard, and they might have a different tactic. >> the presidential guard is there in great numbers. they are under president mubarak's command. they would not tolerate any attempts to march toward the place where the president is now staying. it is their job to protect the nation, including the president. >> they would be in a very difficult situation, definitely. either to lead the march on the palace, but we are not sure whether the president is still in the palace. there are some unconcerned -- unconfirmed reports that he is not. or it might lead to a standoff between the presidential guard and the militants. >> how are we to understand the role of the military now? they spoke about being in

continuous session. many say they have to choose between the president and the people, but they are trying to in effect play both sides. >> definitely. the statement they made today is unprecedented. statement no. from the higher military council -- statement number one from the higher military council. makes it clear they are somewhat siding with the people. many expect statement number two to be issued soon. the street is responding negatively to what the president has said, and to contain things, the military has to step in and take charge of matters. >> many egyptians, including members of the negotiating committee -- wiseman, as they are called, who have been talking with omar suleiman -- say they need good faith, and they need omar suleiman to show that they are going to carry out their promises. we have heard that call also from countries like the united

states. bringing the speeches together tonight by the vice-president and the president, is there any sign that that will happen anytime soon? >> having been talking to one of the leading secretaries on this committee of wise men, he says he feels that what we have heard today is the president's stepping down, but just not saying this explicitly because he would have felt to insulting to say it this way. the problem, in his opinion, is that the message was sent so badly that it gave the wrong impression to the people, that the people are now more angry against the president because he did not seem to admit any responsibility, any mistakes, and he seemed to indicate that he would still somehow be in control of the overall situation until september. what some people believe is that what they have seen today is the actual stepping down of mubarak

but that the message was not delivered in a proper way. >> very much, his speech was about, "we are in this together. it is a difficult time. i will see it through." he tried to appeal in very nationalistic, perhaps even emotional language. will any egyptians be swayed by it? >> we do not know. in his last speech, the egyptian people were divided into supporters and opponents. we must remember this. tonight, it seems a little bit different. the reactions we are getting from very unprofessional indicators like facebook for example, seem to be all in opposition to the president. it is early to judge, but the mood seems to have turned very much against the president to be able to shift in his favor by these emotional words that he spoke. it is too early to judge, but it seems to not be having a good

effect in his direction. >> thank you for joining us. it is early in the morning. past midnight. people are still in the square. let's join my colleague, who is just overlooking tahrir square. we must ask you about the reports of people moving out of the square. what reports are you getting? >> we have not seen anything of that kind. i should apologize in advance. we are getting a little bit of interference on the line, but i hope we will be able to keep it going. we have just come back from the fringes of tahrir square. i can tell you that the army is a little bit more nervous, a little bit stricter, following a day in which everything seemed incredibly relax. a bit more challenging of people as they go to and fro, and certainly, quite a number of people have left or are leaving the square, but i do not have the sense that any of them have

any particular objective in mind tonight. they are talking about the possibility of marchers tomorrow -- marches tomorrow, people talking about going to the presidential palace, and you hear people talking about how that could be something of a gauntlet to the army, so they are apprehensive about that. a number of people i have spoken to specifically on the subject of the army were insisting that the army remain neutral, even though there was a slight suspicion perhaps that they had been lied to earlier in the day when the army came here, spoke to the demonstrators and said, "tonight, you will get all your demands that -- met." that clearly did not happen, but they still believe the army is neutral, and one young lady i spoke with said it is vital that the army remain neutral because, in her view, it would be a recipe for civil war.

at the moment, there is a feeling that the army is still playing it straight, but there is this enormous sense of disappointment at what they heard from president mubarak. some people said in surprise. other people really resigned at once again they had heard from the president that he was not intending to do their will, even though they recognize that he did make gestures towards this gradual transition. >> we have seen the square transformed into a tense city where people have been spending the night. is there signs that despite the temperatures that have been dropping, people will spend the night there again tonight? >> yes. there are plenty of people getting ready to bed down. some already have. mostly, people standing around talking, speaking on cell phones, gathered together in small groups discussing what they have heard and no doubt what they should do next.

they did feel that they were poised to get everything. i think those expectations were unnaturally high. in fact, and reasonably high. now, they feel they are once again facing this long, protracted battle to try to prize president mubarak -- prise president mubarak out of office because they do not believe, amid all the talk about power changes -- did not believe any of this can happen with president mubarak still in power. it may not seem very long between now and september when he said he will step down, but for them, it is too long. in the words of one protester i spoke to, but " we want the whole system removed -- "we want the whole system removed." with the army taking control

while the political leaders get their act together. they do not think anything can happen while president mubarak remains in power. >> protesters say they are staying put. so is president mubarak. we have this report from our middle east editor. >> the crowd in tahrir square grew steadily all evening. by the time the president spoke, there were hundreds of thousands there, waiting and hoping that hosni mubarak was about to leave office, but it was not that simple. >> i speak to you from the heart, he said, as a father to his children. he said, "all those who spilled blood of protesters will be punished." he promised some powers would be transferred to the vice- president but reiterated he would stay on until elections

in september. from the morning, it was clear that the protests were spreading way beyond the square. doctors and medical staff came out of their hospitals. flags across the country, in the capital, and far from cairo were a decisive factor. these were civil servants who walked out of the communications ministry. journalists of the official newspaper, for many years the regime's reliable mouthpiece, issued a special supplement. it said, "the revolution has freed us from the year -- from fear." it said that the current parliament came from a rigged election. >> we cannot go on this way. we have to trace the editorial policy. otherwise, we will fail -- we will fail as a newspaper. by the way, we have to burn this

newspaper if we continue the same way. >> state television showed president mubarak conferring with the vice-president, omar suleiman. there were glimpses of what appears to be a day of jockeying for power at the top. high demands met. afterwards, the army issued what it called communique number one, saying it would preserve the aspirations of the people. then, as word spread that the president could be going, thousands of egyptians crossed the bridge over the nile to tahrir square. this has become a very well- trodden route. the regime was hoping the protesters would exhaust themselves appear the president's opponents have had the numbers and the energy. this week, demonstrations have been the biggest yet. in the square, as they wait for the president's announcements, the sense of expectation grew.

>> the day of glory. the day of victory. the day of freedom. finally, it is a great day. egyptians are born again. the most people in the square assumed the president was going and started a party -- >> most people in the square assumed the president was going and started their party. one rumor said the president was already on a plane out of the country. >> i'm waiting. i'm not going home until i know exactly what is going to happen. if nothing happens, i'm confident tomorrow is going to be a very off day for the police. >> the question is whether his decision to transfer of powers to the vice-president will be enough for the protesters and the army, and whether the crowds in this city and across egypt will allow mr. mubarak to stay on as president in name only. >> our middle east editor watching these events unfold

makes clear the speech, the third by the president since the crisis began, was widely anticipated. great expectations. let's hear a bit more of what he had to say when he addresses the nation. first, he began to talk about his pledge not to run in the september elections. >> any political system can commit mistakes and any state can commit mistakes. what is most important is to acknowledge these mistakes and put them right as soon as possible and put those behind them to account, bring them into account. i would like to tell you that as the president of the republic, i am not embarrassed to listen to the youth of my country and to respond to them. however, the main embarrassment and what is wrong -- i think

that they will not accept ever 8 -- aid that is coming from abroad, wherever it is coming from and for whatever reason for pretexts for excuses -- reason for -- reason or pretexts or excuses. i have expressed with all clarity my intention not to stand for the forthcoming elections. it surprises me what i have actually deployed for effort for this country for more than 60 years during days of peace and war. i have expressed my commitment to this, and i express a similar pledge and commitment to carry on doing my responsibility to protect the constitution, the interest of the people, and

until a transfer of power and responsibility handed to whoever is elected next september in fair and free elections that will be guaranteed with transparency and freedom. this is the pledge i have made before god and the nation, and i will protect this pledge until together we take egypt to the shore of safety. i have expressed plans to get out of this crisis and to implement the demands of the people within constitutional legitimacy. in 8 way that will achieve stability of our society -- in a way that will achieve stability of our society and at the same time i put forward a framework agreed for a peaceful transfer of power.

>> then, as the president continued his speech, he made it clear that he was not a president who was going anywhere. he was a president who would keep his promises. he then announced that he would be handing over some of his powers. >> i am aware of the dangers facing us. out of my belief that egypt is going through a very significant place in its history, this compels us all to put the interests of the nation first and put each of of of any consideration -- but each of the above any consideration -- but -- put that egypt will come through this crisis.

its people will not be broken. it will stand on its feet again with the confidence and loyalty of its people. it will answer back against the enemies and will fight them off. we will prove us, egyptians, our ability to achieve the demands of the people through a civilized and consensus dialogue. we will prove that we are not followers of others. we do not take instructions from others. nobody can make or decide our deeds. >> there you have that robust pushing back against western powers, including the united states, who have been calling for an orderly transition. some even specifically spelling out that they wanted president mubarak to go. shortly after the president

spoke, it was the turn of the vice president to address the nation. >> i would like to stress that i am committed to do whatever i can to achieve a peaceful transfer of power in accordance with the constitution. i would like to announce my commitment to implement what i have pledged with regard to measures during the national dialogue and what will be achieved in the future. the protection of the revolution of the people, and each gain to restore trust amongst us while respecting the constitution and the law. >> vice-president omar suleiman, calling for the people's trust in this national dialogue, although we have heard from members of the negotiating team, including the committee of wise men that they feel the vice-

president so far has not given the kind of concrete measures, los to change the constitution and political system that would inspire trust. we are waiting for reaction from around the world. one of the first foreign officials to speak out has been britain's foreign secretary. he has been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent. he is now on a tour of the region and is now in bahrain. >> we are studying closely with the president and vice president of egypt have said. it is not immediately clear what powers are being handed over and what the full implications are. we think the solution to this has to be owned by the egyptian people themselves. all we want in the united kingdom is for them to be able to settle their own differences in a peaceful and democratic way, and that is why we have called from the beginning of this crisis for an urgent but orderly transition to a more broadly based government in egypt, and in the meantime, we

look to the egyptian authorities to protect the right to peaceful protest. >> it is up to the egyptian people. the egyptian people must own this. this is the kind of message we have also been getting from washington. president barack obama spoke before we have heard from president hosni mubarak. let's cross now to washington to speak to our state department correspondent. i understand you have been speaking to some officials for a reaction. what have you been hearing? >> we are expecting a statement from the white house -- a written statement from the white house any time soon, but in the meantime, i have been speaking to american officials, who have been giving me their first reactions to president mubarak's speech. initially, they said they were trying to decipher exactly what the public statement meant and how far the transfer of powers actually went. it was a very long speech, rather floury -- rather flowery

language, and a lot of reference to constitutional articles. they said this probably did not go far enough for the crowd in tahrir square, but the protests will continue, and the crowds will get bigger. what is also interesting is where does this leave mr. suleiman if indeed president mubarak has transferred his powers to him and he is now the defacto president, as we understand from a spokesperson from the egyptian embassy here? if that is correct, is mr. suleiman still seen as a credible leader for this orderly transition to a democratic egypt? i understand that the reaction here in washington to both speeches has been one of disappointment. the sense is that it was very badly presented, very badly packaged, if you will, and that means that whatever was left of mr. suleiman's credibility has

now gone as well, so there are quite a lot of unanswered questions about what comes next. >> yet, omar suleiman is someone that the americans know well. they have worked with him, and work, at least before this crisis, with satisfaction. >> they have indeed, but they worked with president mubarak with some satisfaction over the last few decades, but both mr. suleiman and mr. mubarak sounded quite upset and quite resentful of everything that had been said in foreign capitals. we assume that they meet washington in particular. they said that they would reject all foreign dictators -- dictates. it certainly sounds as though the relationship between foreign leaders and mr. mubarak suleiman and mubarak is now broken. i think that people in washington did not expect this exact speech from mr. mubarak,

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