Egypt: Opposition declares Feb.4 the day of departure of Mubarak

Egyptian protesters have declared that February 4 will be the “Friday of departure” for President Hosni Mubarak and say they will congregate at his palace on Friday afternoon. Angry demonstrators, fed up with Mubarak's three-decade rule, jeered at the president's remarks while watching his speech on TV in Tahrir Square on Tuesday night and chanted that he should go immediately.
Senior Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei, who has expressed readiness to lead the country's popular uprising, has said that the people's message is clear and they want Mubarak out now and not in September.
After Mubarak's address, the protesters said that this Friday would be the “Friday of departure” for the president and announced that they would be gathering at his palace on Friday afternoon.
In addition, a US official has said that the pledge that Mubarak made in his speech may not prove to meet the demands of the anti-government protesters.
"The president's announcement is significant, but the question is whether it will satisfy the demands of the people in Liberation Square," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday.
In a televised speech earlier in the day, Mubarak said that he would not run in the election scheduled to be held in September but said he would stay in office until then.
"What's clear is that this is a movement that is gaining momentum, it's not going to go away. And it's not likely to be enough," the US official added.
He went on to say that Mubarak has, to some extent, recognized the demands of the protesters but stated that it was fully possible that people would have more demands.
Earlier on Tuesday, about two million people took to the streets of Cairo to pressure Mubarak to step down, and the total number of protesters across the country hit five million, Press TV reported.
Tuesday's protests were the biggest anti-government demonstrations in Egypt's recent history (PT).