Egyptians Determined to Pursue Revolution; Mubarak Names VP!

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Egyptian Revolution continued on Saturday for the fifth consecutive day as Egypt’s streets were still tense with protesters, security forces and army forces filling the streets, hours after defiant President Hosni Mubarak declared he had dissolved the government.

Mubarak on Saturday insisted on ignoring the demonstrators’ demands of his departure. However, he sought to calm down the Egyptian people by accepting the resignation of a senior official in the ruling official and appointing a new Prime Minister as well as a Vice President for the first time ever since he came to power.

MUBARAK NAMES SULEIMAN AS VP
As the violence raged, the Egyptian President went into crisis talks with officials late in the afternoon, after which news broke that army career man and Mubarak confidante Egyptian intelligence chief General Omar Suleiman had been sworn in as his deputy.

Suleiman, 75, is chief of military intelligence and a well-known player on the world scene. He has spearheaded years of Egyptian efforts to encourage an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and of mediating internal Palestinian disputes.

The move was believed by analysts as the first indication the Egyptian President was preparing an eventual handover of power after protests that have rocked the foundations of the state.

AVIATION MINISTER NAMED AS PM
Shortly after Suleiman was sworn in, Mubarak tapped the current aviation minister, Ahmed Shafiq, to form a new government.

Shafiq is respected by the Egyptian elite, even among the opposition, and has often been mooted as a potential successor to Mubarak.

AHMED EZZ RESIGNS
Protesters have been demanding not only Mubarak's departure but an end to endemic state corruption and police brutality that have become systematic under the president's 30-year rule.

However, steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, widely seen as a linchpin of a corrupt regime, resigned from the ruling National Democratic Party, where he was a senior member, state television reported.

TOP CLERIC CALLS ON MUBARAK TO GO
In a remarkable statement, top Arab world's influential cleric Yusuf al Qaradawi urged Mubarak to step down for the good of the country, as his ouster was the only solution to Egypt's crisis. Sheikh Qaradawi also encouraged Egyptians to keep up their peaceful protests demanding an end to Mubarak's three-decade rule, in an interview with Al-Jazeera television. "President Mubarak ... I advise you to depart from Egypt ... There is no other solution to this problem but for Mubarak to go," Qaradawi said, accusing the veteran leader of having turned "blind, deaf and dumb."

The cleric, spiritual leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and longtime resident of Qatar, heads the International Union for Muslim Scholars. "There is no staying longer, Mubarak, I advise you to learn the lesson of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali," he said, referring to Tunisia's deposed president who fled to Saudi Arabia. "Go Mubarak, have mercy on this people and leave so as not to increase the destruction of Egypt," he added.

He told Egyptians to "continue their uprising" but cautioned against any "attack on state institutions." The uprising "must come through peaceful means," Qaradawi said.

EGYPTIANS DEFY CURFEW
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of angry citizens streamed into central Cairo's Tahrir Square, one of the focal points for street battles that have raged around Egypt, chanting: "Mubarak out!" as troops looked on.

The army announced that a night-time curfew would be enforced and extended in key cities. However, as the new 4:00 pm to 8:00 am curfew went into effect on Saturday, tens of thousands in Cairo paid no heed. Later, the army stood back as protesters fought running battles with police in front of the interior ministry.

Hundreds of angry demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police near the epicenter of five days of protests, who responded with gunfire.

Witnesses said police were firing live rounds, and medics said three people had been killed in the fighting in front of the ministry.

Elsewhere, clashes erupted in the key port city of Ismailiya, northeast of the capital, where thousands of workers fought running battles with police.

In Alexandria, hundreds of people camped out by the main mosque in the centre of the Mediterranean city vowing to protest again, with several police stations still burning amid sporadic looting.

As in Cairo, tanks were deployed and the police were absent. Civilians directed traffic and conducted clean-up efforts.

Despite the ongoing protests, two Cairo mobile phone networks came back on line on Saturday, a day after all Egyptian operators were told to cut services. But Internet access appeared still to be cut by late afternoon.