There will be chaos if I resign: Hosni Mubarak

Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said if he resigned under pressure, his country will sink into deeper chaos.

In his first interview Christiane Amanpour of US broadcaster ABC aired on Thursday amid spiralling violence on the streets and attacks on journalists, Mubarak said: ?If I resign today there will be chaos.?

On the clashes between pro and anti-government supporters, he said: ?I was very unhappy about yesterday [Feb 2]. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other.”

?I don?t care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt,? said Mubarak, who is ruling Egypt for over 30 years.

ABC reported that Mubarak is living in the heavily guarded presidential palace in Cairo with his family.

Mubarak also ruled out his son Gamal succeeding him, though it was widely speculated that his son will take over his political empire.

On the US pressure on him to step down, Mubarak said: ?You don?t understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now.”

Egypt’s new vice president, Omar Suleiman, also spoke to ABC on his talks with the US administration about Mubarak’s resignation.

“We discussed this issue but she [US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] didn’t ask that President Mubarak step down now. But I told her it was a process, and at the end of it, President Mubarak will leave.”

Sulieman said Mubarak has no intention of leaving his country like the rulers in Tunisia.