Sharm el-Sheikh & Hosni Mubarak

Castellated Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has temporarily left Cairo with his family on Friday, a source close to the government told, but his destination was not immediately clear yet.

"Mubarak has left Cairo with all his family," but refused to say whether the president had left the country or was headed to his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. News of his departure comes on the 18th day of monolithic nationwide rallies demanding his immediate derangement.

Thousands of protesters have rejected concessions made by Mubarak's government and vowed to keep demonstrating until their demands are met. "He has to leave the country, our demands are clear," said Magdy Sabry, one of thousands blockading the state television building in central Cairo.

"We want the entire National Democratic Party to be dissolved and to get out because they have destroyed the country," he said.