UNDER PRESSURE

Egypt President Bows to Demands

Mubarak pledges not to run in next election.

After all that, he listened. On the eight day of protests against his regime, Egypt President Hosni Mubarak vowed not to seek re-election in September in a state television address on Tuesday—a position President Obama had urged him to take. He promised “to ensure the peaceful transition of power,” according to the English translation of his speech on al Jazeera English, and said his responsibility was to restore security and stability to Egypt. In fact, Mubarak claimed, he wasn’t planning on running again anyway. “I have exhausted my life serving Egypt and its people,” Mubarak said. “I will die on the soil of Egypt.” As he spoke, hundreds of thousands of citizens—at least—were gathering across the nation in their biggest protests yet, demanding his immediate departure.