The time for change is "long overdue" and the spontaneous mass protests are evidence of "widespread popular discontent," the Egyptian American Society said.

"We call on the United States to demand government reform and an end to the dictatorship in Egypt," said Cherif Bassiouni, the society's president and a law professor at DePaul University.

"It is time for Egypt to open a new chapter on democracy and freedom based on the rule of law and the equality of all citizens, irrespective of religion, creed, gender or other discriminating factors."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement saying that "governmental reforms are long overdue throughout the region."

The Muslim Public Affairs Council called on US President Barack Obama to support "oppressed" Egyptians and "call for an immediate end to the current regime's violent treatment of its people."

Rallies in support of the protestors were being hastily planned across the United States as leaders of the Muslim and Arab communities embraced the chance for real political reform in the Middle East.

Obama on Friday called for "concrete" steps towards political reforms, saying Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak must turn "a moment of volatility" into "a moment of promise."

But while the United States may have toughened its tone, it was not good enough for some.

"We must stop the hypocrisy," said Imam Aly Lela, of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit and the American-Egyptian Muslim Society.

The US government "knows full well he's a dictator. They know that human rights and democracy in Egypt has been declining significantly."

"It's time for the American government to side with the people and know this will serve the best interests of American policy in the region," Lela told AFP. "Mubarak will go, it's a matter of time."

In metro Detroit -- home to the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the United States -- people have been closely following the mass uprisings which swept through Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen and now Egypt.

"There is so much elation and gratification right now," said Shereef Akeel, 45, an attorney who was born to Egyptian immigrants and lives in a Detroit suburb. "Today is a tremendous moment for many."

It is a "political tsunami," said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

"I hope that our country, the United States of America, is sensitive to people's interests and needs, beyond being friends with the governments," Hamad said in an interview.

"People are here to stay, but regimes come and go. It would serve our best interests to have a friendship with people, not just regimes."

It is also time for the United States to live up to the ideals of freedom and liberty for all people that it champions at home and abroad, Hamad said.

"It's only logical to support what is right, as long as that is fully the choice of the Egyptian people, without any interference or mandate from any power or country, including the United States."

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