The Egyptian president has dismissed his government, saying that he will replace it with a new one on Saturday.
In his address to the nation late on Friday after four days of deadly protests, he says that "I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government".
The president said that change can not be achieved through chaos but through dialogue.
Saying he understood that the people of Egypt wanted him to address poverty, employment and democratic reform, he promised to press ahead with social, economic and political reforms.
"We will not backtrack on reforms. We will continue with new steps which will ensure the independence of the judiciary and its rulings, and more freedom for citizens," Mubarak said.
He said new steps will be taken "to contain unemployment, raise living standards, improve services and stand by the poor."
Reacting to the protests that have erupted in the capital and other cities, Mubarak urged calm, adding that only because of his own reforms over the years, were people able to protest.
Mubarak's speech is likely to be seen as an attempt to cling to power rather than take concrete steps to solve some of the more pressing problems facing many Egyptians, primarily unemployment and rapidly rising food prices.
A somber looking Mubarak called anti-government protests "part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy legitimacy" of the political system.
He also defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, saying he had given them instructions that the protesters be allowed to express their views. But, he said, acts of violence and vandalism left the security forces with no choice but to react to restore order.
Even after Mubarak's speech, protesters defied the night curfew and shouted slogans like "Down with Mubarak" in Cairo and other cities.
In his address to the nation late on Friday after four days of deadly protests, he says that "I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government".
The president said that change can not be achieved through chaos but through dialogue.
Saying he understood that the people of Egypt wanted him to address poverty, employment and democratic reform, he promised to press ahead with social, economic and political reforms.
"We will not backtrack on reforms. We will continue with new steps which will ensure the independence of the judiciary and its rulings, and more freedom for citizens," Mubarak said.
He said new steps will be taken "to contain unemployment, raise living standards, improve services and stand by the poor."
Reacting to the protests that have erupted in the capital and other cities, Mubarak urged calm, adding that only because of his own reforms over the years, were people able to protest.
Mubarak's speech is likely to be seen as an attempt to cling to power rather than take concrete steps to solve some of the more pressing problems facing many Egyptians, primarily unemployment and rapidly rising food prices.
A somber looking Mubarak called anti-government protests "part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy legitimacy" of the political system.
He also defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, saying he had given them instructions that the protesters be allowed to express their views. But, he said, acts of violence and vandalism left the security forces with no choice but to react to restore order.
Even after Mubarak's speech, protesters defied the night curfew and shouted slogans like "Down with Mubarak" in Cairo and other cities.
