Egyptians responded to a call for a mass protest by flowing on to Tahrir Square today as calls continued for the country’s military rulers to step down.

Fear that Egypt’s ruling generals are working to perpetuate their hold on power is causing a political furore, threatening a “second revolution” and sending relations between the generals and activists to new lows less than four weeks before a key election.

Thousands of people have poured into central Cairo’s Tahrir Square for what they called a “second revolution”, calling for Egypt’s military rulers to speed up the pace of democratic reforms.