Mubarak resigns

Hosni Mubarak has stepped down as president of Egypt, according to Vice President Omar Suleiman, who announced on state TV that the military was now in control of the country. Earlier today, Mubarak and his family flew to Sharm el-Sheik, a resort town in the Sinai peninsula. [BBC. Photo: Reuters]

• [noen]

  The Facebook revolution.

• [BB]

  It’s about time.

• [alllie]

  So torturer Omar Suleiman is now in charge?

  Probably since it has come out that Mubarak is the richest man in the world, Suleiman probably wants his chance to bleed Egypt dry for 30 years, see how rich he can get too.

  • [brix]

    while suleiman is undeniably torturer-in-chief of the mubarak regime, there’s plenty of reason to suppose he’s an empty suit at this point. like, for example, this statement by the Military Supreme Council, saying that they’re taking charge, that they plan to prevent any retaliation against protesters, and that oversee an end to the state of emergency and implementation of free and fair elections.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/world/middleeast/11egypt-military-statement.html?_r=1

    • [alllie]

      I hope you are right. And while I sort of trust the ordinary soldiers in no way do I trust the generals who have been exploiting Egypt and the Egyptian people for decades. As the people have rebelled against the government, so the soldiers need to rebel against the generals.

• [senorglory]

  First Jerry Sloan, now this!

• [Festus]

  “Military Seizes Control. World Rejoices.”

  Have we fallen this low?

  • [IWood]

    There’s a certain amount of romanticism surrounding “The People,” especially in the West. The media-enhanced imagery of crowds expressing their will hides many unpleasant practical details.

    It’ll be interesting to see whether the crowds demand that Fathi Sorour assumes power.

• [AFURRYTHING]

  Yay!!! ummmmm…….now what?

• [BT Murtagh]

  MSNBC ticker headline: “Mubarak steps down, Pres. Obama at 1:30 ET”

  How much you want to bet some Palinistas will be bitterly disappointed when President Obama doesn’t step down at 1:30 ET?

• [Anonymous]

  noen, a Facebook revolution? I disagree. FB was just one of many media those brave people were using. Linking what is happening in Tahrir Square to Facebook would be as misleading as referring to the American Civil War as the ‘Horse Revolution’ simply because horses were used to convey information and orders between military officers. We could further demean this event by calling it the ‘Twitter Revolution’ or the ‘SMS Revolution’.

• [Anonymous]

  +
  Thanks to God.

• [Anonymous]

  The reports of Mubarak squirreling away $50+ billion don’t pass the sniff test. I don’t doubt he’s got some money, but I doubt it’s more than a few tens of millions.

• [Patrick Dodds]

  Will he keep dying his hair now he’s not in power?

• [Teller]

  I expect the military to cede control after elections in September. Until then, its strength allows life and business to resume – a badly needed palliative.

• [Hools Verne]

  It doesn’t matter either way, because Switzerland has frozen Mubarak’s assets.

• [The Mudshark]

  We´ll see how this plays out. I hope for the best and that one tyrant will not be replaced with another, as it so often happens all over the world. Good luck to you Eyptians and have a great party tonight!

• [Eark_the_Bunny]

  “Meet the New Boss,
  Same as the Old Boss”

• [Anonymous]

  Bravissimo, righteous peaceful revolutionaries — and please: continue to show us all how it’s done!

• [benher]

  Finally! Now can we please get back to Pyramids, Scarabs, and Mummies?