Egyptian military rejects calls to step down

Egypt’s military rulers rejected protesters’ demands for them to step down immediately and said they would start the first round of parliamentary elections on time next week, despite serious unrest in Cairo and other cities.

The ruling military council insisted it was not the same as the old regime it replaced, but the generals appear to be on much the same path that doomed Hosni Mubarak nine months ago – responding to the current crisis by delivering speeches seen as arrogant, mixing concessions with threats and using brutal force.

So far it is working no better than it did under the former leader.

Protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, seething over the military’s perceived failings over the past nine months, say they will not leave the iconic plaza until the generals step down in favour of a civilian presidential council, a show of resolve similar to that which forced authoritarian Mr Mubarak to give up power in February after nearly three decades.

“What we want to hear is when they are leaving,” said Tahrir protester Khaled Mahmoud on hearing of an apology offered by the military for the deaths of nearly 40 protesters since Saturday.

“The ouster of the marshal (Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mr Mubarak’s defence minister for 20 years before he succeeded him in February) is only a matter of time.”

“There will be no postponement in the election,” said Maj Gen Mamdouh Shaheen, one of two members of the ruling military council who spoke at a televised news conference yesterday.

“The election will be held on time with all of its three stages on schedule.”

The two generals said the crowd in Tahrir did not represent the whole of Egypt and warned of chaos if the council was to step down immediately.

The two generals – Shaheen and Maj Gen Mukhtar el-Malla – also said parliamentary elections would start on time on Monday and that a new prime minister to replace Essam Sharaf, whose government resigned this week, would be picked before the vote.

News reports that were not yet officially confirmed said Kamal el-Ganzouri, who served as prime minister under Mr Mubarak in the 1990s, had been approached by the military as a possible candidate for prime minister.

State television showed footage of Mr el-Ganzouri meeting with Field Marshal Tantawi.

Tahrir Square, meanwhile, was quieter yesterday after five days of intense clashes. Police and protesters agreed to a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics at the scene.

At the same time, soldiers built barricades from metal bars and barbed wire to separate the protesters and the police on streets-turned-battlefields leading from Tahrir to the nearby Interior Ministry.

Protesters formed a series of human chains on the those streets to prevent anyone from breaking the truce or approaching flashpoint areas close to the police lines. The truce came into force at around 6am and was holding by nightfall.