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
-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