An overwhelming wave of popular protest swept Hosni Mubarak from office on Friday night, forcing Egypt’s veteran president to hand over power to the army, in the second Arab revolution in a month.
After millions of Egyptians had flooded on to the streets in the morning to demand Mr Mubarak’s immediate removal, Omar Suleiman, the newly appointed vice-president, made a brief evening television appearance to tell the nation that the president had resigned and the military was now in charge. Mr Mubarak had already fled Cairo for his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Tahrir Square, the nerve centre of the 18-day revolt, erupted in frenzied chants of “He gave up! He gave up!” and drivers sounded horns across Cairo as the Arab world’s most populous country bid a noisy farewell to 30 years of Mr Mubarak’s rule.