Protesters on Friday prepared for big demonstrations to mark the "Day of departure" for the beleaguered president.
The developments come as the New York Times reports, quoting US officials and Arab diplomats, that the US administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for Mubarak to resign immediately and hand over power to a transitional government headed by Omar Suleiman, the newly appointed vice-president.
The Egyptian president, for his part, says he has had enough and is ready to go but fears chaos if he resigns now.
Mubarak's remarks, to an American TV network on Thursday, came as two days of clashes between protesters and his supporters on Cairo's streets left at least 13 people dead and hundreds injured.
Ahmed Shafiq, Egypt's new prime minister, said the interior minister should not obstruct Friday's peaceful marches. The interior ministry has denied it ordered its agents or officers to attack pro-democracy demonstrators.
Mubarak's government has struggled to regain control of a nation angry about poverty, recession and political repression, inviting the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's most organised opposition movement - to talks and apologising for Wednesday's bloodshed in Cairo.
Street battles
The confrontation extended to Thursday in central Cairo where armed Mubarak loyalists fought pro-democracy demonstrators.
"I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go," Mubarak, 82, who remains inside his heavily guarded palace in Cairo, said in the interview with ABC News.
"If I resign today, there will be chaos."
Asked to comment on calls for him to resign, he said: "I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country."
Mubarak blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for Wednesday's violence and said his government was not responsible for it.
"I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other," Mubarak told ABC.
