Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak Rumored to Step Down … Vice President Suleiman to take over as Transition Leader (Update: Or Not, Defiant Mubarak Refuses to Step Down for Now)

Rumors are abound … Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak Rumored to Step Down.

According to MSNBC, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak is to step down and Vice President Suleiman to take over as leader in a transition process to elect a new leader. At this point who knows as all media outlets are all over the place in speculation. ABC News is reporting, “Egyptian Army Chief Tells Protesters: ‘All Your Demands will be Met’”.

Following an all-day meeting of the country’s supreme military council, the army said all the protesters’ demands would be met and a further statement was expected to be made later Thursday, clarifying the situation.

Mubarak was also due to address the nation.

UPDATE I: BBC is reporting that Mubarak will step down after 17 days of protests from the Egyptian people.

The real question has to be not if Mubarak steps down, but who and what will succeed him in Egypt. As stated by Weasel Zippers, Victory, but for whom? I wonder what’s going on over in Israel and how they feel about all this.

UPDATE II: FOX News reporting that Mubarak will step down and transfer power to a military council.

UPDATE II: Hell No, he won’t go! After all the hype and build up to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepping down and history taking place, the end result turned out to be quite anticlimactic.

Well so much for all the rumors that Mubarak was stepping down and handing the reins over to a military tribunal. A defiant Mubarak stated that he was not going to step down; however, would not run again at the end of his term later this year. This should go over well with the protesters in the streets of Cairo and Tahrir Square.

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on Thursday that he would delegate authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman but that he would not resign, enraging hundreds of thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new stage in the three-week uprising.

The rumors were running wild yesterday in anticipation that Mubarak would step down. Even US President Barack Obama stated that Egypt was “witnessing history unfold.” However, it never happened. Although during his speech Mubarak stated that he would not be told what to do by outside forces as he stated, “We will not accept or listen to any foreign interventions or dictations.” Following the speech, Obama was critical of Mubarak’s decision. At this point, it is probably better for Obama to just remain quiet and work behind the scenes.

The Egyptian military has stated that they will back Mubarak’s decision to remain in office.

Surely this cannot continue with a defiant Mubarak and 100,000 protesters in the streets of Cairo.