Update Egypt

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down as chairman of the ruling party. Mubarak stepped down along with the rest of the National Democratic Party s (NDP) top leadership, as tens of thousands of protesters remained defiant in Cairo s Tahrir Square. Hossam Badrawi has been appointed the new secretary-general of the party. He replaces Safwat El-Sherif, a Mubarak loyalist, in that post. Badrawi will also replace Gamal Mubarak, Mubarak s son, as head of the party s political bureau. Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met ministers responsible for the main economic portfolios within his new government. The meeting included the Prime Minister, Dr Ahmed Shafiq; the governor of Egypt s Central Bank, Dr Farouk el-Okdah; the petroleum and mineral resources minister, Sameh Fahmi; the social cohesion minister, Dr. Ali el-Misilhi; the minister of trade and industry, Dr. Samiha Fawzi; the finance minister, Dr. Samir Radwan; and Dr. Zakaria Azmi, the head of the presidential palace. Mubarak continued to resist calls for his immediate resignation saying he will serve out the remaining seven months of his term to ensure a stable process. Mubarak said on Thursday Egypt faced chaos if he resigned now, though he has promised to step down in September. Demonstrations against the president entered into a 12th day on Saturday with no sign of an end to a confrontation which has pitted the 82-year-old leader against thousands of anti-government protesters. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians held mostly peaceful demonstrations across the country on Friday to demand an immediate end to Mubarak s 30-year rule. And in Cairo s Tahrir Square, the hub of demonstrations, protesters occupying the usually busy intersection in the heart of the city said they were not giving up though numbers were down from Friday.The protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continue all around Egypt. A huge number of protesters are present at the Tharir Square. The local administration has decided to ease curfew timings in three cities including Cairo. The Egyptian opposition s "day of departure" for Hosni Mubarak ended at midnight Friday with the embattled president refusing to transfer power amid a rising tide of international calls for him to stand down. Mubarak defied huge protests in central Cairo and in Alexandria aimed at forcing his ouster as US President Barack Obama said talks have begun on a transition in Egypt and EU leaders said it was time for change. Obama did not explicitly call on Mubarak to resign, but noted he had already made the psychological leap of saying he would step down after elections in September and should now reconsider his position. EU leaders were more forthright in their call for Mubarak to step aside. Clashes left at least eight people dead and more than 800 hurt on Wednesday and Thursday. According to UN estimates, more than 300 people have been killed since the protests began. Mubarak s onetime foreign minister and a future possible presidential candidate, Arab League chief Amr Mussa, said on Friday he doubted his former boss would leave any time soon.