I've had enough: Mubarak declares but won't quit now

Egypt President Hosni Mubarak wanted to quit but he feared his resignation would bring chaos to Egypt. -- PHOTO: AP

CAIRO - PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday he wanted to quit but that he feared his resignation would bring chaos to Egypt, as protesters demanding an end to his 30-year rule clashed with his supporters on Cairo's streets.

Mubarak's government has struggled to regain control of a nation angry about poverty, recession and political repression, inviting Islamist opponents to talks and apologising for Wednesday's bloodshed in Cairo that left 10 people dead.

A bloody confrontation gripped central Cairo where armed government loyalists fought pro-democracy demonstrators on Thursday in an uprising which is reshaping the modern history of this key United States ally and the Arab world's most populous nation.

'I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go,' Mubarak, 82, who remains inside his heavily guarded palace in Cairo, said in an interview with ABC.

'If I resign today, there will be chaos,' he added. Asked to comment on calls for him to resign, he said: 'I don't care what people say about me. Right now, I care about my country.'

Protesters, who numbered some 10,000 in Tahrir (Liberation) Square during the day, prepared to defy a curfew and sleep there ahead of a big demonstration they are calling the 'Friday of Departure' to mark last week's bloody 'Day of Wrath' protest. The US State Department said it expected confrontation after Friday afternoon prayers in Egypt. -- REUTERS