The people are not pleased with Sulieman ~ for very good reason.
Day of Departure' passes and Mubarak remains in power
The balance of power was teetering in Egypt this morning amid reports of an assassination attempt on the newly-appointed vice president.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to confirm the alarming reports of an 'organised attack' on Omar Suleiman. Two of his bodyguards were said to have been killed in the incident several days ago.
If true, the report represents a frightening new element in the popular uprising that has seen one of the U.S.'s greatest Middle Eastern allies descend into chaos.
We shall not be moved: As night fell, demonstrators defied a curfew and remained packed in Tahrir Square
Seeing the light: An anti-government protestors holding an Egyptian flag sits atop a lamppost as a helicopter flies past in Tahrir Square late this evening
On alert: Protesters man a barricade placed in a street near Tahrir Square
Opportunists could be taking advantage of the revolution, which has not yet succeeded in toppling President Hosni Mubarak from power, to push their own unknown agendas.
Fox News quoted sources on the assassination attempt last night.
Mr Gibbs was visibly flustered when asked about the incident at a press conference. 'Uh... I'm not going to get in to that question,' he said.
Mr Suleiman was appointed by Mr Mubarak as he tried to stem criticism over his 30-year rule. So far, the move has failed to bring calm to Egypt.
Out in force: Opposition supporters gather to listen to Egyptian-born cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
No go: An army tank bearing graffiti blocks the path of a mob of anti-government protesters
The new vice president, widely considered the first successor Mr Mubarak has designated, fuelled anti-foreign sentiment by going on state television and blaming outsiders for fomenting unrest.
Omar Suleiman said: 'When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters.'
The government has accused media outlets of being sympathetic to protesters, who want the president to quit now rather than serve out his term as he has vowed to do.
Praying for a change: Anti-government protesters kneel towards Mecca for Friday prayers below a hanging effigy of President Mubarak
We shall not be move: Anti-Mubarak protesters link hands in Tahrir Square
Sitting down on the job: Men sit cross-legged during a break in the slogan chanting
Attacks: A member of the press lies huddled on the ground after he was beaten by pro Mubarak supporters as soldiers surround him in Cairo
Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters remained camped in Cairo's Tahrir Square last night, intensifying pressure on Mubarak to step down sooner rather than later.
The president, however, has told ABC News that he is 'fed up' but refuses to go.
The square ~ which had been the scene of pitched battles between pro and anti-government supporters for the last two days ~ was flooded with an estimated 500,000 Egyptians clamouring for change.
Thousands, including families with children, flowed over bridges across the Nile into Tahrir.
Their presence was a sign that the movement was not intimidated after fending off everything thrown at them by Mubarak supporters ~ storms of hurled concrete, metal rebar and firebombs, charges by whip-wielding fighters on horses and camels and automatic gunfire barrages.
The demonstrators, defying a government imposed curfew ~ held up signs reading 'Now!'. At one point, the crowd seemed to be a field of waving Egyptian red-black-and-white flags.
They had labelled yesterday the 'Day of Departure' for Mubarak, but as Saturday dawns, the president is still clinging to power.
There was no sign of Mubarak loyalists who had attacked protesters on previous days with rocks, petrol bombs and sticks.
It comes after the Egyptian government warned the country faced significant financial losses after 11 days of protests in major cities.
New Finance Minister Samir Radwan said the tourist business, centred on the pyramids and beaches, had been ravaged.
Mr Radwan said a fund worth $850 million had been set up to compensate people whose property had been damaged.
Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and senior army officials visited the Tahrir square yesterday in a sign that Egypt's most powerful institution was sanctioning the demonstration.
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