Cairo: Egypt's military delivered an ultimatum on Monday to dozens of committed protesters in Tahrir Square, nerve centre of a movement that toppled Hosni Mubarak, to leave and let life return to normal or face arrest.
Soldiers had scuffled with demonstrators the day before as they reopened the central Cairo square to traffic. Some protesters insisted on staying, determined to see through their demands for civilian rule and a free, democratic system.
"We are cordoned by military police. We are discussing what to do now," protester Yahya Saqr told Reuters, adding that a senior officer had told them they risked arrest if they stayed.
Protest leaders say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a huge 'Victory March' on Friday to celebrate the revolution, and perhaps to remind the military of the power of the street.
Egypt's generals, who played an important role in the anti-Mubarak revolt by making no effort to crush it, are asserting their control following Mubarak's overthrow.
Egyptians generally respect the 470,000-strong military, which receives about $1.3 billion annually in U.S. aid and was shielded from public criticism or scrutiny in the Mubarak era, but some in the opposition still mistrust its intentions.
The 18-day revolt against Mubarak's 30-year rule has spawned a rash of protests by workers and even policemen. Disgruntled employees are already pressing for better deals.
The interim military rulers called a bank holiday on Monday after disruption in the banking sector and there is a national holiday on Tuesday to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Having suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament on Sunday, moves welcomed by those who saw both institutions as geared to serve Mubarak's personal ends, the military council was planning to issue orders intended to stifle disruption and get the country back to work, a military source said.
Free and fair elections will be held under a revised constitution, the military said, but it gave no timetable beyond saying it would be in charge 'for a temporary period of six months or until the end of elections to the upper and lower houses of parliament, and presidential elections'.
Political analysts were beginning to ask how long the whole process of amending the constitution, having a referendum on it and then holding elections would all take.
As the 'Revolution on the Nile' sent shock waves around the Middle East, Algeria said a 19-year-old state of emergency would be lifted in days, brushing off concerns that recent protests there could escalate as in Tunisia and Egypt.
Egypt's army said it wowuld lift the hated state of emergency, implemented after the assassination of Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat by Islamist soldiers and kept in place by Mubarak to stifle dissent, but has not specified a timetable which has troubled protesters.