Joy in Egypt after Mubarak steps down

CAIRO - Cries of "Egypt is free" rang out and fireworks lit up the sky over Cairo's Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands danced, wept and prayed in joyful pandemonium Friday after 18 days of mass pro-democracy protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to hand over power to the military, ending three decades of authoritarian rule.

Ecstatic protesters hoisted soldiers onto their shoulders and families posed for pictures in front of tanks in streets flooded with residents of the capital of 18 million people streaming out to celebrate. Strangers hugged strangers, some fell to kiss the ground, and others stood stunned in disbelief. Chants of "Hold your heads high, you're Egyptian" roared with each burst of fireworks overhead.

The military, which effectively carried out a coup at the pleas of protesters that it push Mubarak out, announced on state television that is was committed to shepherding demands for greater democracy and that it would announce the next steps soon. Those may include dissolving parliament and creating a transitional government to lead reforms.

Mubarak flew to his isolated palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, 250 miles from the turmoil in Cairo.

Mubarak's downfall at the hands of the biggest popular uprising in the modern history of the Arab world had stunning implications for the United States and the West, Israel, and the region, unsettling authoritarian rulers across the Mideast.

The 82-year-old leader was the epitome of the implicit deal the United States was locked into in the Middle East for decades: Support for autocratic leaders in return for their enforcement of stability, a bulwark against Islamic militants and peace - or at least an effort at peace - with Israel.

At the White House, President Barack Obama said "Egyptians have inspired us" and said of the important questions that lay ahead, "I'm confident the people of Egypt can find the answers."

The United States at times seemed overwhelmed throughout the 18 days of upheaval, fumbling to juggle its advocacy of democracy and the right to protest, its loyalty to longtime ally Mubarak and its fears the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood - or more radical groups - could gain a foothold. Mubarak's fall came 32 years to the day after the collapse of the shah's government in Iran - the prime example of a revolution that turned to Islamic militancy.

Neighboring Israel watched the crisis with unease, worried that the two nations' 1979 peace treaty could be in danger. It quickly demanded Friday that post-Mubarak Egypt continue to adhere to it.

Any break seems unlikely in the near term: The military leadership supports the treaty, although anti-Israeli feeling is strong among Egyptians. A more democratic government may take a tougher line toward Israel in the chronically broken-down peace process, but few call for outright breaking a treaty that has kept peace after three wars in the past half-century.

From the oil-rich Gulf states in the east to Morocco in the west, regimes both pro- and anti-U.S. may be worried they could see a similar upheaval. Several other rulers in the region have made pre-emptive gestures of democratic reform, apparently hoping to avert their own protest movements.

The lesson many took: If it could happen in only three weeks in Egypt, where Mubarak's lock on power had appeared unshakable, it could happen anywhere. Only a month earlier, Tunisia's president was forced to step down in the face of protests.

Up to the last hours, Mubarak sought to cling to power, handing some of his authority to Suleiman while keeping his title. But an explosion of protests Friday rejecting the move appeared to have pushed the military into forcing him out completely.