Cairo protesters defy army order

MORE than 1,000 protesters ignored an army order to leave Cairo’s main square yesterday, extending into a third day their calls for a quick move to civilian rule and a deeper purge of corrupt officials.

Barbed wire blocked roads into Tahrir Square, the centre of the protests that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on February 11 and a major thoroughfare in the traffic-choked capital.

Egypt’s army rulers have enjoyed broad support since taking control on February 11, but complaints against them are growing, although they have promised free, fair elections for a new parliament in September.