Update at 6:56 p.m. ET: The historic events in Egypt and Tunisia are "Osama bin Laden's nightmare," noted Mideast scholar Shibley Telhami writes at Politico.

What is clear is that, whoever governs Egypt, and whatever their aims and preferences, they will have to co-exist with a military that will likely remain strong and a newly empowered public that's at the core seeking liberty. It's a risk worth taking when you consider that failure to try will make Bin Laden's case.

His entire essay is here.

Update at 6:10 p.m. ET: Writing from Jerusalem, The Christian Science Monitor says Israelis are worried about a power vacuum that might be filled by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and threaten Israel's 30-year treaty with Egypt.

''The Muslim Brotherhood has already said they won't be committed to the peace treaty. I don't see a military conflict with Israel. But the whole regional order of the last 30 years will be totally shattered,'' said Eli Shaked, a former ambassador to Egypt.

Another former Israeli envoy to Cairo, Zvi Mazel, voiced similar pessimism to Ynet News.

"It's over, Egypt is no longer a superpower," Mazel said. "Egypt has completely lost its status in the area, while Turkey and Iran are on the way up. It's a different world."

"As long as we had Mubarak, there was no void in our relations with the region. Now we're in big trouble," he added.

Update at 3:29 p.m. ET: Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group governing Gaza, is hailing Mubarak's departure.

"We consider the resignation of president Mubarak to be the start of the victory of the Egyptian revolution, which we support with all its demands," the movement's spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, tells Agence France-Presse.

He called on the Egyptian army to support "the demands of the people and not let them be led astray."

By Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: Essam El Erian, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood party, which was banned by Mubarak, hails what he calls Egypt's "historic moment of victory." He tells Al-Jazeera TV that Egyptians brought about a "new history in the country and the region" and showed that they can accomplish it "without any help."

"This revolution was done by all Egyptians -- Christians and Muslims, old and young," he says.

He says the country has embraced a "new model of democracy" for freedom that can now be added to democratic models in the West.

Update at 1:35 p.m. ET: A statement on Egypt by President Obama was originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET but has been delayed until later today. The White House did not indicate when it will be delivered.

Update at 1:32 p.m. ET: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is now leading the country, says in a statement that it is studying the way forward but emphasizes that "there is no alternative but legitimacy acceptable to the people."

The statement, read on Egyptian state TV, also praises former president Hosni Mubarak for his decision to step down and "for what he has delivered in his career in times of war and peace."

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET: The Swiss government will freeze any assets held in the country by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Al-Jazeera TV reports, citing a foreign ministry spokesman.

Update at 12:41 p.m. ET: Abdel-Rahman Samir, one of the youth organizers of the protests that forced Mubarak to resign, says the movement will now open negotiations with the military over democratic reform -- but says protests will continue to ensure change is carried out.

"We still don't have any guarantees yet — if we end the whole situation now it's like we haven't done anything," he says, the Associated Press reports. "So we need to keep sitting in Tahrir (Square) until we get all our demands."

But, he adds, "I feel fantastic .... I feel like we have worked so hard, we planted a seed for a year and a half and now we are now finally sowing the fruits."

Update at 12:31 p.m. ET: Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei tells Al-Jazeera TV that the political developments today are "a dream that I have been wishing to see for the last 30 years."

The former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says the most important chore now for Egyptians is to "make sure the country is retored and socially cohesive, economically vibrant and politically democratic."

Asked for his message to the Egyptian people, he says: "You gained your liberty, you have gained the right to catch up with the rest of the world. Make the best of it and God bless you."

Update at 12:09 p.m. ET: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation has sent stock prices up and oil prices down, the Associated Press reports.

Vice President Omar Suleiman announced in a 20-second statement on Egyptian state TV that Mubarak was stepping down and handing power to the military to run "the affairs of the country."

Reuters reports that parliament will be suspended and the military will lead the country along with the head of the constitutional court.

In Europe, Germany's DAX traded up 0.4% and the FTSE in London jumped 0.7%. The Dow rose 0.2% in late early afternoon trading.

Oil prices, on the other hand, fell 30 cents a barrel to $86.43 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Mubarak's departure has eased fears that unrest might spread to other countries and affect the Suez Canal, the AP reports.

Update at 11:34 a.m. ET: Here is the full statement that a grim-looking Vice President Omar Suleiman delivered on Egypt state TV announcing President Mubarak's resignation:

In these grave circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic. He has mandated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and succor.

Update at 11:32 a.m. ET: Our colleagues at The Oval report that President Obama will make a statement on the Egyptian developments at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Update at 11:27 a.m. ET: Al-Jazeera correspondent Sherine Tadros, reporting from Tahrir Square, reports that a number of demonstrators have fainted amid the jubilation and been helped out of the area.

Update at 11:22 a.m. ET MSNBC reports that President Obama was notified of Mubarak's resignation during an Oval Office meeting. He then watched the TV coverage for several minutes in an outer office.

Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, reacting to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, says: "This is the greatest day of my life. The country has been liberated."

Update at 11:08 a.m. ET: Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators erupted in jubilation in Tahrir Square as Vice President Omar Suleiman announces that President Mubarak has resigned and called on the army to "run the affairs of the country."

Update at 11:05 a.m. ET: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigned. Vice President Omar Suleiman said in a brief televised statement. His statement in full: "Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of presidency and told the army to run the affairs of the country. "

Update at 11:03 a.m. ET: Hossam Badrawi, who was recently appointed general secretary of the NDP, resigns saying Egypt needs new parties, Al-Jazeera reports.

Update at 10:42 a.m. ET: Reuters quotes a U.S. official as describing Mubarak's departure from Cairo as a "positive first step."

Update at 10:16 a.m. ET: Al-Jazeera TV reports that one person has died and 20 injured when a police station in the north Sinai town of El-Arish came under small-arms fire during protests.

Update at 10:08 am. ET: Reuters, quoting witnesses, reports 1,000 protesters in the north Sinai town of El-Arish have exchanged gunfire and tossed firebombs at a police station.

Update at 10:04 am. ET: Crowds move in large numbers from Tahrir Square in Cairo to the presidential palace ahead of an "urgent and important" statement from the presidency. Thousands of others have gathered outside Egypt state TV.

Update at 9:51 am. ET: Al-Jazeera reports that two helicopters have arrived at the presidential palace ahead of a statement by the presidency. Tens of thousands of protesters have surrounded the building in a peaceful demonstration.

Update at 9:36 am. ET: Egypt state tv says to expect a statement shortly from the presidential palace, Reuters reports.

Update at 9:14 am. ET:The Associated Press quotes a local official in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik as confirming that President Mubarak is there.

Update at 8:39 am. ET: Denmark's prime minister has become the first European Union leader to publicly urge President Hosni Mubarak to step down. "Mubarak is history, Mubarak must step down," Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Friday in Copenhagen, the Associated Press reports.

Update at 8:23 am. ET: President Mubarak and his family have left Cairo and are now in his Red Sea residence in Sharm el-Sheik, CBS News, NBC and Al-Arabiya TV report.

Update at 8 am. ET: Egypt's military is supporting President Mubarak's plans for a transfer of power but is not preventing hundreds of thousands of protesters to demonstrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo and to gather outside both the presidential palace and the building housing Egypt state TV, the Associated Press reports.

Update at 8 am. ET: Al-Jazeera TV reports that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is preparing to issue its third statement in two days regarding the transfer of power.

Update at 6:38 am. ET: Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate, says in a statement on Twitter that the "entire nation is on the streets." "Only way out is for regime to go," he tweets. "People power can't be crushed. We shall prevail. Still hope army can join."

Update at 6:18 am. ET: In Cairo, thousands of demonstrators are blocking access to the building housing state TV, Al-Jazeera reports, keeping some employees and guests from reaching the station. Al-Arabiya TV quotes witnesses in the Egyptian city of Suez as saying protesters there have seized control of some governmental buildings.

Update at 6:14 am. ET: Protesters at Cairo's Tahrir Square have finished Friday prayers, but it is unclear whether they will continue their demonstration there or march to other locations.

As thousands of protesters keep up their call for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces issues a cautious statement promising free and fair presidential elections later this year and a conditional lifting of emergency law.

It did not specify a date for elections.

The statement also endorses Mubarak's transfer of power to his vice president and promises the lifting of the 30-year-old emergency laws "as soon as current circumstances end."

It is the second statement from the council within 24 hours as the stalemate continues in Egypt for the 18th day.

The statement, in effect, endorses the plan for transfer of power as presented Thursday by Mubarak in a national speech. In it, he announced the transfer of all presidential powers to his new vice president, Omar Suleiman, and the guarantee of free and fair elections in September.

The statement angered hundreds of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square. They vowed to continue their effort to force Mubarak from office.

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate, issued a statement afterward on Twitter, calling on the military to take over power: "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."

The Obama administration says the voice of the Egyptian people "must be heard" and calls on the government to clarify its plans for a transition to democracy.