The citizens of Egypt’s voices have been heard.
President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down after thirty years in power following weeks of protests in the streets of Egypt.
Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman read a brief statement on state television.
“Citizens, in these difficult circumstances that our country is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to relinquish the office of the presidency and has instructed the Supreme Council of the armed forces to take over the affairs of the country.”
Signs calling for Mubarak’s resignation have lined store windows on Steinway Street in the part of Astoria called “Little Egypt.”
Ali El Sayed, owner of the Kabab Café said, “We’ve been waiting for this for 30 years,” before Mubarak stepped down.
“I congratulate the people of Egypt for their victory in the struggle to take back their government and restore their freedom,” said Congressmember Gary Ackerman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. “The Egyptian people have stood up, and by their steady determination and remarkable courage, reclaimed their nation’s future for themselves.”
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