国际英语新闻：Egypt's Mubarak says will not seek next term as protests upgrade

CAIRO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged Tuesday that he would not run for the presidency again in his speech to the nation which fell into chaos after eight days of anti-government demonstrations demanding an end of the president's 30-year rule.

In his speech on Tuesday night, Mubarak said that he does not intend to run for another term after massive anti-government protests shook the country for the past eight days.

Mubarak said that he will work in the last months of his term to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

"My main responsibility is to ensure stability, and in the next few months I will work on the country's stability," he added.

The president announced that he would seek constitutional change, which controls the criteria of the candidacy of the next president.

"I am a military man who served this country during war and peace and I will die on the soil of Egypt," Mubarak said.

Egyptian dissident and former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei said Tuesday via Al Arabia channel that Mubarak's speech did not meet people's demand, and he urged the immediate resignation of Mubarak.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded downtown Cairo since Tuesday morning for a "march of one million," while other groups of smaller scales were calling for resumption of social order under leadership of the embattled president.

Demonstrators shouting slogans "Oust Mubarak" gathered in Tahrir Square, the center of protests, as the opposition parties called for a general strike and a one-million-people march to the presidential palace after a week of unrest in the country, as the army stood still to protect the people.