-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Long a pillar of Hosni Mubarak 's three-decade rule over Egypt , Omar Suleiman now sits at the top of the pyramid as its de facto president . Under pressure from street demonstrations calling for his ouster , Mubarak named his veteran spymaster to the long-vacant vice presidency in late January . Suleiman quickly became the face of the government 's reform pledges , announcing talks with opposition leaders and promising swift reforms . But Mubarak 's February 1 announcement that he would step down when his term ends in September failed to satisfy the crowds in Cairo 's Tahrir Square and other cities . Attacks on demonstrators by pro-government crowds in the following days failed to dislodge the demonstrators , whose ranks were bolstered when thousands of workers in several industries went on strike Thursday . After a day of intense speculation , Mubarak repeated that he would remain in office to serve out his term -- but he announced that he was delegating power to Suleiman , who quickly urged Egyptians to go home and get back to work . `` We call upon you to unite , and to think rationally and to look forward to the future , '' Suleiman said in a televised speech that followed Mubarak 's . But the vice president , whose agents are among the fingers of Mubarak 's iron hand , was n't seen as much of an improvement by opposition figures . `` Mubarak is only one part of this regime , '' human rights activist Gigi Ibrahim , one of the Tahrir Square protesters , said . `` People have been here for 17 days , and they are not for Suleiman either . Mubarak has lost all legitimacy , and now him handing over the power to the vice president is as illegitimate as Mubarak being in power . '' And in Alexandria , protesters met the announcement with chants of `` No to Mubarak , no to Suleiman . '' A former general who trained under both the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War , Suleiman took over Egypt 's Mukhabarat intelligence agency in 1993 . He is credited with leading Mubarak 's efforts to crush an Islamic insurgency in the 1990s . That earned him the ear of Western intelligence officials thirsting for vital information about regional terrorist groups , and he became a key intermediary in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks . `` He is basically your main go-to guy in Egypt , '' former Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin said . Suleiman has been `` helpful in many arenas , '' including the Israeli-Palestinian peace process . McLaughlin said . A 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo , disclosed by the WikiLeaks website in January , called intelligence collaboration with Suleiman `` probably the most successful element '' of the U.S. relationship with Egypt . But that relationship is `` a little like being in bed with the Mafia , '' author Ron Suskind told CNN 's `` Parker Spitzer . '' `` If someone knocks on your door at night and you disappear , Omar Suleiman is probably behind it , '' said Suskind , whose 2006 book `` The One Percent Doctrine '' detailed the Bush administration 's post-9 / 11 counterterrorism policies . `` He is a feared man , and certainly not a man with any legitimacy when it comes to rule of law or any of the principles we prized in America . '' In 2002 , al Qaeda captive Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi `` was tortured rather dramatically '' by Suleiman 's agents , Suskind said , yielding a `` confession '' that Iraq had trained the terrorist group in the use of chemical and biological weapons . His assertion was a key point in the Bush administration 's arguments for the 2003 invasion of Iraq , but he recanted it once back in U.S. hands . That sort of history leaves an opening for critics to question U.S. support for democratic change in Egypt , Suskind said . `` The fact is , we are allied with the people they 're trying to overthrow , and right now the United States has n't done much to separate those bonds , '' he said . Suleiman had long been mentioned as a possible successor to Mubarak , along with the aging ruler 's son , Gamal . A 2007 U.S. cable called his loyalty to Mubarak `` rock solid , '' and some analysts viewed his vice presidential appointment as a way for Mubarak to make a graceful exit . Suleiman is even credited with saving Mubarak 's life . On a state visit to Ethiopia in 1995 , Mubarak was to have traveled in a normal vehicle but Suleiman insisted that the president 's armored Mercedes be flown in from Cairo . Accounts of an assassination attempt on Mubarak vary but it 's believed that Suleiman was sitting next to Mubarak when a hail of bullets pinged off the car . The bond forged that day cemented their relationship . But Suleiman 's attempts at dialogue with opposition parties were derided by protesters , and the Obama administration criticized the talks for including too few opposition groups . Vice President Joe Biden told Suleiman on Tuesday that Egypt needed `` immediate , irreversible progress '' toward meeting protesters ' demands , and leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said Suleiman and Mubarak `` are twins . '' `` This is an act of deception at a grand scale , '' ElBaradei said . Nathan Brown , a professor of Middle Eastern politics at George Washington University , said Mubarak 's Thursday speech did him little good . Not only was it too little , too late , he said , but his announcement that he was ceding power to Suleiman was buried in an `` incredibly patronizing '' speech . `` Had he done this a couple of weeks ago , it actually may have done something , '' Brown said . But now , he said , `` All the constitutional , legal tools are in their hands , and it does n't ' do them any good . So I do n't think they 're sure what to do . '' CNN 's Matt Smith , Saad Abedine and Moni Basu contributed to this report .