Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday that he wants to step down but just can’t.

“If I leave today there will be chaos,” he told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour.

Mubarak also rejected the notion that his supporters were responsible for the violence seen over the past 48 hours. He placed the blame on the Muslim Brotherhood, a minority party in Egyptian’s parliament.

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“I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other,” he said.

Going further, the Egyptian president brushed off insults from his opponents.

“I don’t care what people say about me,” he insisted. “Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt.”

Mubarak said that he felt relief after announcing that he would retire.

“And he pledged his loyalty to Egypt,” Amanpour noted. “I would never run away, he said, I will die on this soil. He also defended his legacy, recounting the many years he has spent leading his country.”

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“No one is satisfied,” a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman told the Wall Street Journal. “He and his system have already failed, and the people do not want him to continue with his colleagues. He has to leave.”

The New York Times noted Tuesday that US President Barack Obama had urged Mubarak not to seek re-election.

“You don’t understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now,” Mubarak claimed that he told Obama.

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This video is from ABC News, published Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011.