Update at 7:43 p.m. ET: The leadership council of Egypt's ruling party resigned Saturday, including the president's son, but supporters of President Hosni Mubarak expressed optimism that he will survive the chaotic effort to oust him.



Those who resigned included some of the country's most powerful political figures — who were also some of the most unpopular among many Egyptians. But state TV, announcing the resignations, still identified Mubarak as president of the party in a sign he would remain in authority.

Earlier posting: State TV also announced that the ruling party's six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat stepped down and was replaced, CBS and the Associated Press report.

The council is the NDP's highest decision-making body. The outgoing secretary-general, Safwat el-Sharif, and the other resigning members were some of the most powerful political figures in the regime.

Hosni Mubarak has resigned as head of the ruling National Democratic Party, but remains as president of the country, CBS and the Associated Press report.

The resignation was announced on Egypt state TV.

The entire politburo of the NDP resigned. In addition, two key Mubarak allies, including his son, Gamal, were stripped of their posts, the BBC reports.

The leadership post was taken by Hossam Badrawi, a reformer and prominent physician.

In the square, a crowd shouted down an Army general who addressed the protesters and tried to persuade them to end their demonstration.

General Abdel Meneem Khalil, head of the army's central command, urged demonstrators to leave the square. They chanted back, "We are not leaving. He [Mubarak] is leaving," the AP reports.