CAIRO: The leadership of Egypt's ruling party quit on Saturday, but the protesters who have rocked the political establishment dismissed the move as a ruse that would not deter them from their goal of toppling the president. The United States, Egypt's key ally, which has been demanding transition begin immediately, signalled it might be changing tack by declaring explicitly that President Hosni Mubarak should stay in power to oversee the process. This was likely to anger demonstrators demanding he resign immediately. Reports by Al Arabiya saying President Hosni Mubarak had resigned as head of the party were later withdrawn by the Dubai-based television news channel. Mubarak has reshuffled his government but says he intends to stay on as president until elections in September. State television said only the leadership of the party, including Mubarak's son Gamal, had resigned and named the new secretary general as Hossam Badrawi, seen as more liberal. A US official...

CAIRO: The top executive committee of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which includes President Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal, resigned en masse on Saturday, state television reported. "The members of the executive committee resigned from their posts. It was decided to name Hossam Badrawi secretary general of the party," the regime's channel announced amid ongoing opposition street protests. Badrawi, who is reputed to have good relations with opposition figures, also replaces Gamal Mubarak as head of the party's political bureau, the station said.

WASHINGTON: New Egyptian vice president Omar Suleiman and top Egyptian military leaders are discussing plans to limit President Hosni Mubarak's authority and possibly remove him from the presidential palace in Cairo, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Citing unnamed US and Egyptian officials, the newspaper said these plans did not call for him to be removed from presidency immediately. But they would allow for the formation of a transitional government headed by Suleiman, which would negotiate with opposition figures amendments to Egypt's constitution and other democratic changes. In Cairo, state news agency MENA said Mubarak held talks with members of his newly-appointed cabinet but gave no further details. The ageing leader has shown no intention of stepping down imminently, despite huge demonstrations on Friday at Cairo's Tahrir Square -- the epicentre of the protests -- and in Alexandria. But The Times said that among the ideas that had been discussed were ...

BEIRUT: Over 1,000 protesters ascended on the Egyptian Embassy Friday for the seventh consecutive day of protests in solidarity with the Egyptian people. Masked youths appeared in the crowd shortly before 5 p.m., when they began throwing sticks at riot police, but scenes failed to descend into large-scale rioting after protest organizers took a firm stance against the violence and asked supporters to keep calm, with many protesters quickly dispersing. Five people were hospitalized following Thursdays demonstrations, with five more protesters reportedly temporarily detained by authorities. Violence for violence sake does not help anyone, it doesnt help the protest, it doesnt help our cause, said Omar Deeb, the head of the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth. It can be a genuine expression of the popular frustration but the people making trouble today are just here for that purpose, they do not support the cause. The protest was organized by a collection of leftist, pro-March 8 and Islam...

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters massed Friday for sweeping " departure day" demonstrations to force President Hosni Mubarak to quit after he said he would like to step down but fears chaos would result. Tens of thousands filled Cairo's central Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 11 straight days of protests that have shaken the pillars of Mubarak's three-decade rule, on the Muslim day of rest. At one end of the square the faithful prayed out in the open, beneath two traffic lights from each of which hung an effigy of Mubarak. "We were born free and we shall live free," prayer leader Khaled al-Marakbi said in his sermon. "I ask of you patience until victory." Worshippers used newspapers, banners or even Egyptian flags as impromptu prayer mats, reciting the traditional prayer for the dead in memory of the more than 300 people who have died since the protests erupted, sending shock waves around the world. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Kham...

TEHRAN: A wave of uprisings in Arab countries is a sign of an "Islamic awakening" which was envisaged when the 1979 Iranian revolution took place, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday. "Today's events in North Africa, Egypt and Tunisia and some other countries have different meanings for us," Khamenei, the commander-in-chief and spiritual guide of Iran, said in a sermon at Tehran university during the Muslim weekly prayers. "This is what was always talked about as the occurrence of Islamic awakening at the time of the Islamic revolution of the great Iranian nation and is showing itself today." Khamenei's remarks were received by cheering crowds of worshippers who, raising their hands, chanted "Death to America! Death to Israel!" The sermon marked the first time in seven months that Khamenei has addressed the weekly Friday prayers and came as protesters were massing in Egypt for sweeping "departure da...

CAIRO: Egypt's embattled President Hosni Mubarak's and his family's net worth is estimated to be between US dollars 40 and 70 billion, a media report said. The wealth of the Egypt's first family was built largely from military contracts during his days as an air force officer; Mubarak eventually diversified his investments through his family when he became president in 1981, the 'ABC News' quoted experts as saying. The family's net worth now ranges from US dollars 40 to 70 billion, by some estimates, the report said. Amaney Jamal, a political science professor at Princeton, said those estimates are comparable with the vast wealth of leaders in other Gulf countries. "The business ventures from his military and government service accumulated to his personal wealth. There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain," Jamal was quoted as saying. Jamal said that Mubarak's assets are most likely in ...