hosni mubarak
Pressure remains on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to quit immediately after a speech in which he said he would not stand for re-election in September.
US President Barack Obama said an orderly transition "must begin now", while Turkey's PM Erdogan said Mr Mubarak should take a "different step".
In Tuesday night's speech, Mr Mubarak promised to leave at the next polls, and pledged constitutional reform.
Thousands took to the streets to voice their support for him on Wednesday.
They insisted they spoke for the real Egypt and were not being paid to demonstrate, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.
Others, though, remained camped out on the nearby Tahrir Square saying Mr Mubarak's promise was not enough, and chanting: "We will not leave! He will leave!"
President Obama: "An orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now"
Egypt's army - widely seen as an arbiter in the crisis - issued a statement on Wednesday calling for demonstrators to return to their homes, and allow life in the country to return to normal.
"Your message has arrived, your demands became known... you are capable of bringing normal life to Egypt," said a spokesman in a message broadcast on state television.
Meanwhile, internet service was reportedly returning to the country, having been cut off for days by the government. State television also reported an easing of a nationwide curfew - with restricted hours from 1700-0700 (1500-0500GMT) rather than 1500-0800
BBC.
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