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Thousands mass to pressure Egypt military

Friday, February 18, 2011

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate the fall of president Hosni Mubarak and to pressure the new military rulers to deliver on reform pledges.

Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi addressed the massive crowd during the prayer sermon, calling on Arab leaders to listen to their people.

"The world has changed, the world has progressed, and the Arab world has changed within," said Mr Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Qatar.

"Don't obstruct the people," he said. "Don't try to lead them on with empty talk. Conduct a real dialogue with them."

Protesters performed their prayers in massed ranks, with tanks surrounding the square and a light security presence.

Before the crowds swelled for the Friday prayer, a military band in full dress uniform was playing patriotic music to the cheers of the adoring crowd.

Activists ratcheted up pressure on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, that took power when Mr Mubarak stepped down on February 11, by calling for a massive march in Cairo to commemorate those killed in the uprising and press for the release of detainees.

The Coalition of the Revolution Youth, which groups pro-democracy movements that helped launch the revolt, have called for the gathering to "remember the martyrs of freedom and dignity and justice," after at least 365 were killed and 5,500 injured in the protests, according to the health ministry.

The coalition has vowed to keep up the pressure to ensure the rest of its political demands are met, including the "immediate release of all detainees," it said in statement posted on Facebook.

Hundreds of people went missing during the protests, rights groups said, blaming the army which they also accused of torture.

Gamal Eid, a lawyer who heads the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said: "There are hundreds of detained, but information on their numbers is still not complete ... The army was holding detainees."

On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Egyptian military to halt the use of torture against detainees, saying it had fresh evidence of abuse.

Both Amnesty and the New York-based Human Rights Watch said they interviewed former detainees who described being tortured by the military.

The coalition of activists is also calling for "a speedy replacement of the current caretaker cabinet by a government of technocrats" that are not seen as corrupt, it said.

Pro-democracy activists are also seeking a lifting of the decades-old emergency law, and support for the pay strikes that have surged around the country.

"We are going today to commemorate the martyrs and in doing so we are awaiting justice," Mohammed Waked, a protest organiser, said.

"If those detained during the protests are not released, let alone the older political prisoners, it would be a bad sign," he said. "It would show the army is not sincere about political reforms."

In Tahrir Square, taxi driver Farag Radwan who took the day off to celebrate, said he was following other revolts in the Arab world on television.

"Why can't we be united like Europe," he said. "The problem is with the presidents not the people."

Activists who are also calling for a complete dismantling of Mr Mubarak's regime welcomed the arrest of reviled former interior minister Habib al-Adly, whose security forces were given wide powers of arrest under the emergency law.

Mr Adly was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of money laundering and ordered held for 15 days.

And prosecutors ordered former tourism minister Zuheir Garana, former housing minister Ahmed al-Maghrabi and businessman Ahmad Ezz also to be held for 15 days "to assist in an investigation," a judicial source said.

Mr Ezz, a steel magnate, was a member of the former ruling National Democratic Party. He was considered to be a mentor of Mr Mubarak's son Gamal, who was long considered a possible successor to his father.

Since Mr Mubarak's fall, Egyptian workers have tested the limits of their new found freedom, staging pay strikes despite calls from the new military regime for them to return to work and warning of "disastrous" consequences should strikes continue.

Workers are calling for the resignation of the leaders of state-controlled trade unions and company board members, who they accuse of corruption, as well as higher wages and better working conditions.

On Thursday, the United States gave Egypt, a key ally in the region, $150 million in crucial economic assistance to help transition towards democracy.

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