A new era has dawned in Egypt on Saturday after 18 days of popular revolution which drove ex-president Hosni Mubarak from power a day before following 30 years in rule.

A new era has dawned in Egypt on Saturday after 18 days of popular revolution which drove defiant Hosni Mubarak from power a day before following 30 years in rule.

Military on Saturday began removing the barricades around Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the rallies in which protesters resisted police assaults and raids by Mubarak supporters.
As tanks lurched to the sides of some of the main roads leading into the square, civilian volunteers helped the soldiers to remove the metal barriers and barbed wire while cranes hauled away the torched shells of vehicles.

They also dismantled barriers around the nearby national museum, home to a treasure trove of Egyptian antiquities, where there had been fierce clashes last week after an attack by pro-Mubarak supporters.

The protesters' self-organized groups continued to sweep the square and remove rubbish, as well as cheerfully inspect the identity cards of people entering.
Thousands of Egyptians were still celebrating, singing and waving flags as dawn broke over a nation reborn on Saturday.

MUBARAK RESIGNS, POWER RESTS WITH ARMED FORCES
In a move that was expected a long time, Mubarak stepped down on Friday, after it became impossible for him to ignore the Egyptian nation’s calls for him to resign and leave presidency and after defeat became absolute…

A grim-faced and ashen Vice President Omar Suleiman announced the handover on state television Friday after an extraordinary national outpouring of rage brought vast crowds into the streets across the country in the Arab world's most populous country.
"President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave the post of president of the republic and has tasked the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to manage the state's affairs," Suleiman said.

But political power now rests with the military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mubarak's departure, and many were anxiously waiting to see whether they will make good their promise to respect the popular will.
Following declaration of resignation, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces declared its "Statement Number Three" since announcing that it was taking charge.

The head of the council, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, read the statement saying simply that it would respect the mood of the newly energized street.
The council "will issue further statements that will announce forthcoming steps, measures and arrangements, and it affirms at the same time that it is not a replacement for the legitimacy that is acceptable to the people," Tantawi added in the statement.