Egypt celebrates as Mubarak resigns

Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets again, this time to celebrate the end of a 30-year authoritarian rule as President Hosni Mubarak stepped down

Egypt celebrates as Mubarak resigns

Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets again, this time to celebrate the end of a 30-year authoritarian rule as President Hosni Mubarak stepped down

EGYPTIAN flags waved in the air and the night sky was filled withu00a0 fireworks at Cairo's Tahrir or Liberation Square, where protests ended after 18 days. The country's fate now lies in the hands of the military after Hosni Mubarak turned over power to the Armed Forces Supreme Council of top generals, headed by Defence Minister Field Marshal Muhammad Hossein Tantawi.

The death toll of protesters is estimated at 300 by Human Rights Watch. The uprising, largely organised over the Internet, produced no clear leaders, giving rise to speculation about Egypt's political future. Wael Ghonim, the Google employee whose Facebook posting is credited to have kickstarted the protests, told CNN that "no one was leading this". "This was a revolution 2.0. The real heroes are the (thousands) in the street."

US President Barack Obama saluted the Egyptian military, but warned of "difficult days ahead". Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted "a new Middle East in which there would be no place for the United States nor the Zionist regime (Israel)."

Switzerland said it would freeze any bank accounts held by Mubarak or his family. Mubarak's private accounts have been estimated at $40 billion.

Mubarak left the presidential palace in Cairo via helicopter for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh late Friday, leaving his deputy, Vice President Omar Suleiman, to announce the president's resignation.

Suleiman said a military council would run the country of 80 million for now. The council gave few details of what it said would be a "transitional phase" and gave no timetable for presidential or parliamentary elections.

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