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Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak has said he is willing to resign forthwith but fears the
country would descend into chaos if he did so.

In his first
interview since anti-government protests across Egypt began 10 days
ago, he told ABC News he was “fed up” with power, warning that the
Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party would fill any power vacuum if he
stepped down.

Speaking to ABC’s Christiane Amanpour, he vowed never to leave, saying:

“I would never run
away from this country. I will die on this soil.” He denied his
supporters were behind the violence of the last two days.

News of the
interview follows another day of violence in central Cairo, between
anti-government protesters with Mr Mubarak’s supporters. Stones were
thrown on both sides, and there has been some gunfire with one person
reported dead. The embattled president noted that it hurt him to him to
see “Egyptian fighting Egyptian”.

Meanwhile US state
department spokesman Philip Crowley has urged Mr Mubarak to move
“farther and faster” with the transition. Earlier Mr Mubarak’s newly
appointed deputy, Omar Suleiman, called for time to carry out political
reforms before presidential elections in September. He also warned
there would be a political vacuum if a proper period of transition was
not allowed.

Pro- and anti-Mubarak groups skirmish

Army tank moved
against supporters of President Hosni Mubarak as they hurled rocks at
anti-Muburak protesters in central Cairo, prompting cheers from
demonstrators battered by overnight fighting that killed six.

“Allahu Akbar, the
army and the people are hand in hand”, chanted protesters barricaded in
Tahrir (Liberation) Square, where 10,000 people on Thursday joined the
hundreds who had camped overnight. The Mubarak loyalists fled when the
tank turned its turret towards them, then regrouped nearby and resumed
throwing stones.

In Egypt’s second
largest city of Alexandria, thousands protested with anti-Mubarak
banners, one reading: “In all languages of the world, we tell you: go
out, Mubarak.”

In north-eastern
Egypt, around 4,000 people marched in Suez calling for Mubarak to step
down, while in Ismailia a crowd of 2,000 held a similar demonstration.
In Cairo protesters lined up small rocks to fight off attacks by
pro-Mubarak groups. “We are using these stones as a means of defence.
Yesterday they attacked us with molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) and
all we have to protect ourselves with is stones,” said Ali Kassem.

A Reuter’s
journalist saw protesters overpower someone they said was an undercover
member of the security services. Over a loudspeaker a voice urged:

“Don’t beat him.
Hand him to us and the organising committee and we will hand him over
to the army. The international media is watching us and saying we are
peaceful people.” Some protesters say the pro-Mubarak supporters have
been paid for by Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP). Mobile
phone operator Vodafone accused the Egyptian authorities of using its
network to send pro-government text messages to subscribers, without
clear attribution. One message sent on February 2 seen by Reuters
announced the location and timing for a pro-Mubarak rally. “If they
don’t want the president to go, okay, but let’s see whose voice is
louder…what I saw last night made me want to stay longer, it
strengthened my resolve,” said Ilham Farouk, a 27-year-old pharmacist
in a full face veil.

On Thursday the new
Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, apologised for the violence and promised
an investigation. “As officials and a state which must protect its
sons, I thought it was necessary for me to apologise and to say that
this matter will not be repeated,” he told reporters. He promised an
investigation to find out “whether this was planned, was it
spontaneous, did someone direct it, (or) did a certain party encourage
it?” Algeria to lift emergency rule soon Algeria’s state of emergency,
in force for the past 19 years, will be lifted in the very near future;
official media quoted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as saying on
Thursday.

Bouteflika also
said, at a meeting with ministers, that the government should adopt new
measures to promote job creation and that Algerian television and
radios, which are controlled by the state, should give airtime to all
political parties, the official APS news agency reported. Bouteflika
said protest marches, banned under the state of emergency, would be
permitted everywhere except in the capital. Political parties must
respect the law to ensure freedom does not degenerate into anarchy, APS
quoted him as saying.