Hosni Mubarak: there'll be chaos if I quit
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has claimed his resignation would see his country descend into chaos.
The 82-year-old told US broadcaster ABC News that he wanted to step down now but feared for Egypt's stability if he did so.
In an interview with ABC's Christiane Amanpour, Mubarak denied his government instigated clashes over the past few days. He instead accused the banned Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, of being behind the violence.
Mubarak has ruled Egypt for 30 years, with a state of emergency in place for all of that time.
He said on Tuesday that he would not stand in September's presidential elections.
But Mubarak's speech failed to quell the political unrest, with opposition protesters stepping up their calls for him to quit
Mubarak still in power as protesters keep up the pressure
Their core demand that the president must go immediately has still not been met.
Mubarak's recently reshuffled cabinet is due to meet today for the first time since he sacked his old one in a bid to mollify the protesters.
Sunday's government talks with opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, was a sign of just how much has changed in less than two weeks.
But the consensus was that although the government had good intentions it had so far failed to agree to a complete overhaul of Egypt's political system.
Source: EURONEWS
