CAIRO — On the first anniversary of the start of Egypt’s revolt, hundreds of thousands of people flooded into Cairo’s Tahrir Square and took to streets elsewhere across the country Wednesday in the largest nationwide demonstrations since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.
In the capital, some Egyptians celebrated as they gathered at the traffic circle whose name has become synonymous with the global pro-democracy movement. Most, though, appeared to be there to mourn and protest military rule. The generals assumed control immediately after Mubarak fell, 18 days into the revolt, and Egypt has traveled an uncertain and troubled path since then.
Activists have accused the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of trying to preserve their political powers and influence the writing of a new constitution to protect their own interests at the expense of a genuine democratic transition.
Revolutionaries also say that the backbone of Mubarak’s government is still in place within the security apparatus, that human-rights abuses are continuing and that the revolution must go on until key demands are met — including full repeal of the hated emergency law and prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 people at the hands of the security forces during the past year.
In an address to the nation Wednesday, Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri praised the military council.
But many marching to the square called for the execution of the military leader, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, in a sign of the growing animosity toward the nation’s rulers.
Women and men, religious and secular, young and old made up the crowd of marchers. They waved to people in nearby buildings, encouraging them to to join in, and held up posters demanding the end of military rule.
However, the protesters did not necessarily represent a majority view.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 82 percent of Egyptians believe the military will hand over power to a civilian government as promised.
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