MAIL ONLINE: 'Al-Qaeda-linked terror groups may be behind pipeline blast / Gas company boss says explosion and fire were due to leak, not terrorism / Reports of 'Organised attack' on vice president Omar Suleiman / Mubarak's son Gamal also resigns from National Democratic Party President Hosni Mubarak has resigned as the head of Egypt ruling party, according to State television.
It comes as the country was on the verge of descending into chaos as newly appointed vice president Omar Suleiman reportedly survived an assassination attempt and saboteurs allegedly attacked an oil pipeline.
The balance of power hung precariously as demonstrations against president Mubarak entered their 12th day - and the army was beginning to reassert control on the streets.
The resignation comes just days after Mubarak said he would not resign immediately – because he feared there would be ‘chaos’.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to confirm the alarming reports of an 'organised attack' on Omar Suleiman. Two of his bodyguards were said to have been killed in the incident several days ago.
The pipeline attack has been linked to Islamist militants and, along with the apparent assassination attempt, represents a frightening new element in the popular uprising that has seen one of the U.S.'s greatest Middle Eastern allies descend into chaos.
The head of Egypt's natural gas company, Magdy Toufik, said today that the explosion and fire at a gas terminal in the northern Sinai Peninsula was caused by a gas leak.
There were no reported casualties from the fire, but officials had to shut off the flow of gas to neighbouring Jordan and Israel to contain the blaze. Mubarak quits as party leader after 12 days of bloodshed and riots in Egypt >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Saturday, February 05, 2011
SKY NEWS: 'Top Figures In Egypt's Ruling Party Resign' >>> Stuart Ramsay, in Cairo, and Gary Mitchell | Saturday, February 05, 2011
