Mubarak leaves Cairo, Egypt awaits announcement

Protesters gathered across Egypt, including Cairo’s??Tahrir Square, to demand the stepping down of President Hosni Mubarak on the 18th day of the pro-democracy protests amid reports that the latter has left the Egyptian capital with family.?

While?Egypt’s ?army said it will lift the country’s 30-year state of emergency when the “current situation has ended”, a CNN report quoting state television said an?”important statement” might come soon from the office of Egypt’s president. ?

According to a New York Times report quoting Western officials, ?President?Hosni Mubarak?has left Cairo for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, indicating a move to transfer power. ?

According to Al Arabia News Channel, Mubarak flew out of Cairo to his Red Sea retreat on Friday.

Pro-democracy marches continued in Egypt ?and even laid a seige of the state television saying it supports the current government.

Prayers were also held at Tahrir Square where people hollered “Down with Mubarak”. ??