US president has said Hosni Mubarak should "listen" to protesters calling for him to quit immediately, but he stopped short of explicitly urging the Egyptian president to go now.
Obama told reporters that in two conversations with Mubarak since mass protests against the Egyptian leader's 30-year rule began 11 days ago he stressed the need for an orderly transition to democracy in the country, long a cornerstone of US Middle East strategy.
"Having made that psychological break, that decision that he will not be running again, I think the most important thing for him to ask himself ... is how do we make that transition effective and lasting and legitimate,'' Obama said at a news conference with Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister.
"The key question he should be asking himself is: how do I leave a legacy behind in which Egypt is able to get through this transformative period?' And my hope is ... that he will end up making the right decision,'' Obama said.
Egypt has been a US ally throughout Mubarak's reign and the country is strategically vital to American interests because of its peace treaty with Israel and its control of the Suez Canal.
Mubarak 'a patriot'
In what may have been an effort to quash reports that US and Egyptian officials discussed Mubarak's immediate resignation, Obama said, "The future of Egypt will be determined by its people."
"I believe that president Mubarak cares about his country," Obama said.
"He is proud, but he is also a patriot," he added, in a press conference which appeared to deliver a broad hint that Mubarak should go sooner rather than later.
After two days of clashes between Mubarak loyalists and anti-government protesters and efforts to cut off news coverage of the demonstrations, Obama said the rights of protesters, human rights activists and journalists must be respected.
"Going back to the old ways is not going to work. Suppression's not going to work. Engaging in violence is not going to work. Attempting to shut down information flows is not going to work," he said.
The US president stopped short of calling for Mubarak to immediately resign - the demand of the thousands of protesters on the streets of Cairo. But Obama pointedly noted that the Egyptian president has already made a decision not to run for re-election.
The Obama administration has struggled to strike the right note with regards to handling the unrest in Egypt - mixing messages of support for Egyptian protesters and gratitude for the US's long relationship with the Mubarak government.
