Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has revealed he wants to leave office, but fears chaos if he resigns.

Mubarak told the US ABC Television network that he was "very unhappy" about the scenes of violence in Egypt and did not want to see Egyptians fighting each other.

An anti-government protester tears up a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Credit:AP/Ahmed Gumaa

The beleaguered Egyptian leader said he was "fed-up with being president and would like to leave office now, but cannot, he says, for fear that the country would sink into chaos", ABC's Christiane Amanpour reported after their 20-minute interview in Cairo.

"I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt," Mubarak said, as violent protests against his rule stretched into a 10th day.