Egypt: President Mubarak Resigns

One day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told protesters he would not leave his post as president, he announced he would resign the office.

Mubarak symbolically transferred all his governmental powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman Thursday. Suleiman then transferred power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Friday.

Defiantly in a speech Thursday, Mubarak told protesters that he would not step down until proper elections are held in September. But less than 24 hours later, he has done just that. Conflicting reports surfaced yesterday that Mubarak would announce his resignation during that speech but he then changed his mind.

Egyptian protesters came back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other such places throughout the country to again call for Mubarak’s resignation and they achieved the goal for which they have been protesting since Jan. 25. Crowds chanted “Egypt is free!”

President Barack Obama learned of the resignation in an Oval Office meeting this morning and watched television coverage of the situation. He will make a statement on the events later Friday. Vice President Joe Biden called Friday a day of “historic change.”

An Egyptian military source told the Associated Press that Mubarak left Cairo with his family for the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik.

Check back for more on this developing story.