Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down as the military took charge of the country, Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman said on Friday afternoon.

"The president has decided to step down and hand the military the responsibility to take over rule in Egypt," said Vice President Omar Suleiman.

The Higher Military Council, which has taken over control from Hosni Mubarak, will sack the cabinet and suspend both houses of parliament and rule with the head of the supreme constitutional court, AL Arabia TV reported on Friday.

Tens of thousands of protesters chanted "the people have brought down the regime," as Suleiman announced the president's resignation.

Mubarak's step came only one day after he announced that he is handing power to the vice president without stepping down on Thursday night.

A military airport source told Xinhua earlier that Mubarak and his family had left for the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, accompanied by Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Annan, chief of staff of the Egyptian Army.

相关消息：穆巴拉克在瑞资产被冻结

Switzerland has frozen assets possibly belonging to Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down as president of Egypt Friday after 30 years of rule, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said.

"I can confirm that Switzerland has frozen possible assets of the former Egyptian president with immediate effect," spokesman Lars Knuchel said, declining to specify how much money was involved.

In recent years, Switzerland has worked hard to improve its image as a haven for ill-gotten assets and has also frozen assets belonging to Tunisia's former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali as well as those of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo.