U.S. using "technical means" to keep an eye on Egypt

The U.S. military and intelligence community are using "national technical means" in the skies over Egypt to gather information about the demonstrations and the deployment of Egyptian security forces.
The phrase "national technical means" is used by the U.S. government to generally refer to the use of reconnaissance satellites or other assets to gather imagery or signals intelligence.

A senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of the operation confirmed the intelligence gathering, but declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the matter.

The official declined to say to what extent the Egyptian government is aware of the activity. The official would not say specifically which intelligence gathering elements were being used, but indicated operations were being conducted in a manner that would not be visible to the Egyptian populace.

The official said the decision to use intelligence gathering assets came in part after the initial violence erupted in the early days of the Cairo demonstrations.

Egypt In absence of a dictator ...

Update at 11:08 a.m. ET: Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators erupted in jubilation in Tahrir Square as vice president Omar Suleiman announces that President Mubarak has resigned and called on the army to "run the affairs of the country."

Update at 11:05 a.m. ET: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigne.d Vice President Omar Suleiman said in a brief televised statement. His statement in full: "Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of presidency and told the army to run the affairs of the country.

Update: 10:08 MUBARAK NO LONGER DICTATOR OF EGYPT.

UPDATE: 9:59 CST

Tanks guarding the presidential palace in Cairo turned their turrets away from approaching demonstrators, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd, CNN's Ivan Watson reported.

Breaking: Mubarak flees Cairo?

UPDATE: CAIRO - EMBATTLED Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak left Cairo with his family on Friday, a source close to the government told AFP, and a ruling party spokesman said the ruler was now in Sharm el-Sheikh.

'Mr Mubarak has left Cairo with all his family,' the source said.

'He is in Sharm el-Sheikh,' National Democratic Party spokesman Mohammed Abdellah told AFP.

His departure comes on the 18th day of massive nationwide rallies demanding his immediate overthrow. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have rejected concessions made by Mr Mubarak's government and vowed to keep demonstrating until their demands are met.

And his apparent departure to Sharm, a Red Sea resort town in which he maintains a residence, appeared to do little to placate protesters.

'He has to leave the country, our demands are clear,' said Magdy Sabry, one of thousands blockading the state television building in central Cairo. -- AFP

l Arabiya television reported on Friday that President Hosni Mubarak and his family had left Cairo from a military airbase in the suburbs and had travelled to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

It did not give a source for the series of reports on the movement of the president and his family. Al Arabiya said it had confirmed the arrival of the president and his family in Sharm el-Sheikh.

UPDATE: A local government official says President Hosni Mubarak is in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, 250 miles from the capital Cairo, where protesters are deluging squares and marching on presidential palaces and the State TV building.

The official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Friday that Mr. Mubarak arrived at the airport in Sharm and was greeted by the local governor.


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Update 7:00 PM CST : Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Major Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei warned of potential violent unrest after President Hosni Mubarak announced late Thursday he would not step down before September elections.
Mubarak "is gambling with his country" in order to stay at the helm, ElBaradei told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

He reiterated the message of his Twitter account, which read, "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."
Major clashes between the people and the army, which Egyptians traditionally believe has been on their side, would be devastating, said ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Key players in Egypt

ElBaradei's outlook had changed since hours before, when Egyptians, including thousands packed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, expected Mubarak to step down rather than delegate powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman.
Thursday afternoon, ElBaradei wrote: "I am closely following the situation. We are almost there."
But he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Egyptians will not accept the new arrangement.

"Suleiman is considered to be an extension of Mubarak. They are twins. Neither of them is acceptable to the people," ElBaradei said. "For the sake of their country, they should go."
ElBaradei said a leadership council and a caretaker government should rule the North African nation for one year during a transition to a more democratic process.

Mubarak's defiant remarks about foreign intervention, and his determination to see the transition through, was not what most in the Tahrir Square crowd wanted to hear.
"Get out! Get out!" many chanted as he spoke.
Suleiman told the protesters to go home and back to work. That had not happened by early Friday.

Yaser Fathi, one of the organizers of a post-speech protest in the northern city of Alexandria, told CNN hundreds of demonstrators marched to an Egyptian military base. They asked the armed forces to intervene and shouted that "the military must step in to get Mubarak out," Fathi said.

The vice president referred to the past two weeks as the "revolution of the young people."
Khalid Abdalla, a demonstrator in Tahrir Square and star of the motion picture "The Kite Runner," said early Friday that it's "an incredibly sad moment right now." "Everyone's lost," the actor said. "People are trying to work out what more they can do."

Here are the latest developments, as confirmed by CNN, on the uprising in Egypt. Throngs of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Egypt's major cities to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, prompting the government to deploy the military to deal with civil unrest for the first time in a generation. Check out our full coverage and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents on the ground.

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[Update 12:40 p.m. in Cairo, 5:40 p.m. ET President Hosni Mubarak has transfered all effective powers of the presidency to Vice President Omar Suleiman, making Suleiman the de-facto president of Egypt, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States said.

"The president did indicate very clearly he was transferring all his presidential authority to the vice president," Sameh Shoukry told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "President Mubarak has transferred the powers of the presidency to his vice president, who will now undertake all authority as president."

That makes Mubarak the de jure head of state, or as a matter of law, and Suleiman, the de-facto head of state and the military, Shoukry said, attributing the information to the Egyptian government.

[Update 12:25 p.m. in Cairo, 5:25 p.m. ET] CNN's Ivan Watson says you need only look at the network of tents and a makeshift wooden shelter erected in the middle of Tahrir Square for evidence of what people are planning to do next: "These people are not going. 'When he leaves, we leave.' This is just the beginning."

[Update 12:15 p.m. in Cairo, 5:15 p.m. ET] Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak offered his view on the situation in Egypt Thursday during a visit to the United Nations:

"I think we should not pretend that we are more important for the Egyptian people than their own interests... it's up to the Egyptian people to find their way and to do it according to their own constitution, norms and practices."

[Update 11:58 p.m. in Cairo, 4:58 p.m. ET] Protesters are forming a human chain around the offices of the state-run television after Mubarak's announcement that he will stay in power until September. "The anger is deep, it's profound and widespread," CNN's Ben Wedeman reports of the crowd reaction. Some speculate that the government is trying to provoke strong reaction to justify a crackdown.

[Update 11:38 p.m. in Cairo, 4:38 p.m. ET] Vice President Omar Suleiman says President Hosni Mubarak's speech affirms his commitment to responding to "the demands of the people" and to making the "safety, security and stability" of Egypt a priority above any other consideration.

He also commended the "youth revolution" while urging young people to "go back to your houses, go back to your work, the homeland needs your work." He also told them to ignore the "satellite images" that "mar Egypt" by fomenting revolt.

Breaking: Mubarak NOT stepping down - protesters enraged.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said in a national address Tuesday evening that he will not step down until a new president is selected in elections scheduled for September.

Saying a peaceful transfer of power is underway, Mr. Mubarak refused to give in to demands of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters who took to the streets for a 17th straight day.

It is the second time in two weeks that Mubarak told the nation he will stay in office until September.

The dramatic announcement came on state television shortly after 10:45 p.m. in Egypt. Demonstrators in Cairo's main Tahrir Square had earlier danced and sang in jubilation in expecation that Mubarak would resign.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian military officials and members of the ruling party said Mr. Mubarak will "meet protesters' demands."

Egyptians have been calling for the ouster of President Mubarak, 82, who has been in power for nearly 30 years. They have been demanding he leave immediately. He had previously announced he will not seek reelection in a presidential vote scheduled for September.

Earlier in the day, the military's supreme council met without the commander in chief, Mr. Mubarak. The military is due to issue a statement shortly on state television.

More than two weeks since demonstrators first took the streets of Egypt's major cities to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign, thousands have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square amid speculation that he may announce his resignation. Here are the latest developments, as confirmed by CNN:

[Update 11:05 p.m. in Cairo, 4:05 p.m. ET] "This guy is calling for more rage in the country," a protester in Tahrir Square tells CNN's Fred Pleitgen after Mubarak speaks. "This guy doesn't want to leave in peace."

[Update 11:00 p.m. in Cairo, 4:00 p.m. ET] The crowd in Tahrir Square erupts into roars of "get out" as Mubarak announces he will not step down.

"I will not submit to any international pressures," he says. "I love Egypt, I I have worked hard for its renaissance and I have never tried to have more authority, and I think the majority of other people here know very well who Hosni Mubarak is and it hurts my heart when I see and I hear from my own people."

Update 10:55 p.m. in Cairo, 3:55 p.m. ET] "President Hosni Mubarak announced Thursday that he "will follow the track of peaceful transition until September." He also said he will hold accountable those who fomented violence against demonstrators during the past two weeks.

[Update 10:50 p.m. in Cairo, 3:50 p.m. ET] "I will not nominate myself for next the presidential election and I will be satisfied with what I have done to the country and the homeland for more than 60 years during years of peace and war," Mubarak says.

[Update 10:45 p.m. in Cairo, 3:45 p.m. ET] "I will respond to your demands and your voices and this is a commitment that cannot be reversed. I am committed to carrying out my promises in all credibility," President Hosni Mubarak says in a televised address.