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Egyptians take part in a protest at the Tahrir square, Cairo, Egypt, 01 February 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has vowed not to stand for re-election in September, but demonstrators are defiant and say they want him to resign immediately.
"We will not leave! He will leave!" some chanted in Cairo, saying they will continue their protests until their demands are satisfied.
"The speech is useless and only inflames our anger," one protester, Shadi Morkos, told BBC.
"If Mubarak was not going to run for a sixth term, why did he not say it before? Why does he leave the people hanging... We will continue to protest."
Leaders of the protests had called on Mubarak to step down by Friday, when demonstrators are planning to march on the presidential palace.
"This won't fly any more," said 35-year-old Ahmed Khalifa, a doctor. "If Egyptians stay on the streets till Friday, probably Mubarak's next offer will be to step down right away."
Egypt's opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has dismissed President Mubarak's vow to quit after the polls as "a trick" to remain in power.
"This is clearly an act of deception. This is a person who doesn't want to let go. You have seen what the city looks like, what the people want. And they continuously try to play tricks," the Nobel Peace Prize winner told CNN news channel.
He demanded that Mubarak step down immediately and hand over power to a caretaker government until elections can be held.
Meanwhile Ayman Nour, a presidential candidate from the race in 2005, said the speech was very depressing and does not suit the events that are happening in Egypt.
According to him the speech has fired up the crowd and all of the people in Tahrir Square are angrier than ever.
The comments came shortly after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced Tuesday that he would not stand for re-election during presidential elections scheduled for September but neither would he step down early.
Speaking on state TV, Mubarak promised constitutional reform, but said he wanted to stay until the end of his current presidential term.
The announcement came as hundreds of thousands rallied in central Cairo urging him to step down immediately.
About 300 people have died so far in protests, according to the UN.
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