US Senator John McCain has condemned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's "deeply unfortunate and troubling" refusal to step down immediately and urged him to heed his people's calls to quit power.
"President Mubarak's announcement that he will remain in power is deeply unfortunate and troubling," McCain said in a statement shortly after a televised speech by the longtime US ally in which he stopped short of resigning.
"I urge President Mubarak to begin listening to and trusting his people. The stability of Egypt and the wider region increasingly depend on it," said Senator McCain, who has called before for the Egyptian leader to leave power immediately.
In his speech, the embattled Mr Mubarak said he had delegated power to his deputy and proposed constitutional changes but stopped short of resigning, infuriating protesters who had urged him to go.
Senator McCain also rebuked Mr Mubarak for declaring "I have never bent to foreign diktats," in an apparent swipe at the United States and other countries that have pushed him to accelerate a transition to democracy.
"When President Mubarak alleges that foreigners and outsiders are manipulating events in Egypt, he could not be further from the truth. The Egyptian people, and they alone, are the authors of the current outcry for democratic change in Egypt," said the Senator.
