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1 February 2011
Last updated at 16:21 ET
US President Barack Obama told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to stand for re-election nor to put forward his son, the BBC has learned.
The message was carried by former US Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, and stopped short of asking Mr Mubarak to step down immediately.
The White House had previously said it was not Mr Obama's place to pick Egypt's leader.
For days, protesters have flooded the streets demanding he leave office.
Mr Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for the past three decades, told the Egyptian people on Tuesday night that he would not stand for re-election in September, but said nothing about his son, Gamal Mubarak, whom he is seen as having positioned to be his successor.
BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas, in Washington, says the US hopes Mr Mubarak has figured out on his own that he has got to go now, rather than stand down after the vote.
After several days in which the US government insisted it was not its place to pick Egyptian leaders, on Tuesday, US Senator John Kerry, a top Washington foreign policy voice, urged Mr Mubarak to pledge neither he nor his son would stand in the presidential election.
Mr Kerry, writing in the New York Times, said Mr Mubarak had to accept Egypt's stability "hinges on his willingness to step aside gracefully".
Mr Wisner, a veteran US diplomat, was despatched to Cairo on Monday evening by the state department.
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The message was carried by former US Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, and stopped short of asking Mr Mubarak to step down immediately.
The White House had previously said it was not Mr Obama's place to pick Egypt's leader.
For days, protesters have flooded the streets demanding he leave office.
Mr Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for the past three decades, told the Egyptian people on Tuesday night that he would not stand for re-election in September, but said nothing about his son, Gamal Mubarak, whom he is seen as having positioned to be his successor.
BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas, in Washington, says the US hopes Mr Mubarak has figured out on his own that he has got to go now, rather than stand down after the vote.
After several days in which the US government insisted it was not its place to pick Egyptian leaders, on Tuesday, US Senator John Kerry, a top Washington foreign policy voice, urged Mr Mubarak to pledge neither he nor his son would stand in the presidential election.
Mr Kerry, writing in the New York Times, said Mr Mubarak had to accept Egypt's stability "hinges on his willingness to step aside gracefully".
Mr Wisner, a veteran US diplomat, was despatched to Cairo on Monday evening by the state department.
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