A furious wave of protest swept Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak from power on Friday after 30 years of one-man rule, sparking jubilation on the streets and sending a warning to autocrats across the Arab world and beyond.
Mubarak, the second Arab leader to be overthrown by a popular uprising in a month, handed power to the army after 18 days of relentless rallies against poverty, corruption and repression caused support from the armed forces to evaporate.
Vice President Omar Suleiman said a military council would run the affairs of the most populous Arab nation. A free and fair presidential election has been promised for September, though some question the army's appetite for real democracy.
Ecstatic Egyptians celebrated a peaceful "White Revolution" in carnival mood on the streets and people embraced in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, the main focus for protest, claiming a victory over their "Pharoah" they hardly dared to believe.
<-- Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir Square after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to militarily.
People wept, jumped, screamed and hugged each other with a shared joy they had never
known. Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, erupted in a cacophony of celebration. President Hosni
Mubarak has resigned and Egypt held its biggest party in decades.
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