Middle East
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12421000
Egypt's Mubarak 'may stand down'
Hossan Badrawi of the governing party says the right thing for Mubarak to do is to step aside
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is to make an address on national television, amid suggestions that he is preparing to step down.
A senior member of Egypt's governing party, Hossan Badrawi, told the BBC he "hopes" Mr Mubarak will transfer power to Vice-President Omar Suleiman.
The country's military, meanwhile, has said it will "support the legitimate demands of the people".
It comes on the 17th day of protests against Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule.
Thousands of Egyptians again took to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian towns and cities, calling for President Mubarak to step down.
Doctors, bus drivers, lawyers and textile workers were on strike in Cairo on Thursday, with trade unions reporting walkouts and protests across the country.
Analysis
State television interrupted all programming to present what was in the end an ambiguous message from the high council of the Egyptian armed forces.
While promising to take "necessary measures to protect the nation", the military also said it would "support the legitimate demands of the people" and remain in "continuous session".
President Mubarak will be listening carefully. He needs the support of the country's most powerful institution, the military, if he is to stay in power. Could this have been the military's way of saying that it was time for him to go?
Senior officials have been suggesting that Mr Mubarak is likely to announce he is standing down within hours. That has excited protesters in Tahrir Square in central Cairo but this may be premature.
Some sources are backing up the reports but others deny it. For now the impression is of division and uncertainty at the top.
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the focal point of the anti-Mubarak protests, reports that the protesters there are starting to celebrate after hearing news of Mr Mubarak's possible departure.
State news agency Mena says the high council of the armed forces is in a state of continuous session "to protect the nation, its gains and the aspirations of the people".
State TV is reporting that Mr Mubarak is currently in his office, holding talks with his deputy.
Essam al-Erian, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest opposition group, said he feared that the Egyptian military was staging a coup.
"It looks like a military coup ... I feel worry and anxiety," he told told Reuters news agency. "The problem is not with the president it is with the regime."
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Leon Panetta, said he had received unconfirmed reports that Mr Mubarak would step down on Thursday evening.
"I've received reports that, possibly, Mubarak might do that," he told a congressional intelligence hearing. "We have not gotten specific word that he, in fact, will do that."
But Egyptian Information Minister Anas el-Fekky told Reuters news agency: "The president is still in power and he is not stepping down. The president is not stepping down and everything you heard in the media is a rumour."
Mr Mubarak had previously pledged to quit office after presidential elections due to be held in September.
Negotiations between the government and opposition groups have made little progress, with protesters disillusioned at plans for reform put forward by Mr Mubarak's government.
In recent days, the US government had stepped up its call for the protesters' concerns to be addressed.
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