CAIRO — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will make an "important speech" at the end of the day, marking his second public address since protests to his 30-year rule erupted eight days ago.
In an earlier speech on Saturday, Mubarak named a vice president who is considered his designated successor, and also sacked his Cabinet and promised economic and political reforms called for by his protesters.
As word spread of Mubarak's impending talk, protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square sat in front of a giant TV hung up between lampposts. "Oh God, Oh God, let tonight be his night," some of them chanted as they sat on the ground.
Hundreds of thousands of chanting demonstrators, meantime, continued Tuesday to pack downtown streets while thousands more jammed the airport trying to flee Egypt on Tuesday.
Throngs of men and women waved flags, chanted slogans and hung effigies of Mubarak, reveling in an unprecedented expression of political frustration and anger.
They responded to a call for a "million-man march" and a nationwide strike to force Mubarak from office.
The momentum of the demonstrations, which began a week ago, seems to have caught even the organizers off guard. Mostly young, they promoted their cause on the Internet and "never had it in their mind it would be a revolution," said Alaa al-Aswani, an Egyptian author and political analyst.
Protesters have gained confidence with each passing day, pledging to remain in the streets until they bring Mubarak's rule of almost 30 years to an end.
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