Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday in an interview with ABC television that he wants to leave office, but fears there will be chaos if he resigns now. The beleaguered Egyptian leader said he was "fed-up with being president and would like to leave office now, but cannot... for fear that the country would sink into chaos," ABC's Christiane Amanpour said, after interviewing Mubarak.
Mubarak, who has vowed not to stand in upcoming elections, has come under increasing pressure from the United States and the West to step down amid 10 days of violent protests against his 30-year rule. But he said he had told US President Barack Obama "you don't understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now." Mubarak also said his government was not responsible for the violence in Cairo's Tahrir Square and blamed the opposition Muslim Brotherhood. Pitched battles on Wednesday between Mubarak supporters and regime opponents left at least five people dead and 836 injured.
"I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other," Mubarak was quoted as saying in an early snippet of the 20-minute interview with Amanpour. "He told me that he is troubled by the violence we have seen in Tahrir Square over the last few days but that his government is not responsible for it," Amnapour said in her account of the interview.
"Instead, he blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned political party here in Egypt," she said. The interview took place in the heavily-guarded presidential palace in Cairo, with Mubarak's son Gamal seated at his side, ABC said. "I never intended to run again. I never intended Gamal to be president after me," Mubarak reportedly said.
He told Amanpour that he had felt relief after announcing in an address to the nation on Friday that he would not run again for the presidency. "I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt," he added. Asked by Amanpour how he was feeling, the veteran leader replied: "I am feeling strong. I would never run away. I will die on Egyptian soil."
Meanwhile, Egypt's government struggled to regain control of an angry nation, inviting Islamist opponents to political talks as protesters demanding the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak battled with his supporters on the streets. In a move to try to calm down the chaos, Vice President Omar Suleiman said on Thursday the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most organised opposition movement, had been invited to meet with the new government as part of a national dialogue with all parties. The overture came after new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq apologised for the violence and the breakdown in law and order. Shafiq said he did not know who was responsible for the bloodshed that was blamed by protesters on undercover police. United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said up to 300 people may have died in the bloody uprising.