Egypt's military rulers have ordered a panel of civilian experts to amend five articles in the country's suspended constitution within ten days.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces have instructed an eight-member panel of jurists and scholars to revise articles it sees fit to guarantee Egypt's democracy, a Press TV correspondent reported. Sobhi Saleh, a panel member and former lawmaker from the Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said the armed forces want to hand over power as soon as possible and they want amendments to the constitution. 

The committee will be chaired by Tareq el-Beshry, a respected former head of the Egyptian supreme constitutional court, the report added. 

The panel “must finish its work in a period of no longer than 10 days after the date of this decision," and must also eliminate articles giving presidents unlimited terms in office, the army said in a statement.

The military junta currently ruling Egypt says that the continuation of nationwide strikes and protests would be disastrous, but the people are still pressing for their demands to be met.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which assumed power after former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Friday, asked public sector employees and policemen to end their walkouts and protest rallies and promised to fulfill the “aspirations” of the people, AFP reported.

Hundreds of current and retired police officers held a rally in front of the Interior Ministry in central Cairo on Tuesday, complaining about the injustice of the ousted government.

Thousands of Egyptian union members and other workers are also staging strikes across the country over low pay and corruption. 

Human rights groups says hundreds of Egyptian people have gone missing in the recent popular revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

A leading human rights group said on Tuesday that some people were being held by the armed forces.

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

The group says it was still receiving "information relating to the disappearances of many youths and citizens."

Eid urged the military to publish a list of detainees' names and to guarantee their rights.

Reports say at least 500 people were arrested in the recent popular protests that toppled the ruling regime.

But an estimated 17,000 political prisoners were already locked up in Egyptian prisons, which are notorious for the use of torture.

Egypt has also been the US destination of choice for its extraordinary rendition program -- the practice of taking terror suspects to a country where torture is used in an attempt to extract confessions.

Activists have demanded the release of political prisoners, the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency and the disbandment of military court. They say demonstrations will continue until the army accepts the reforms.

They are demanding a clear timetable for the transfer of power to a civilian government. source

Egypt's vice president says Hosni Mubarak has handed power over to the high military council, despite millions-plus pro-democracy demonstrations.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (C) shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (L) during a meeting attended by Egyptian Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (R) in Sharm el-Sheikh on May 19, 2008.

In a brief announcement, Omar Suleiman said on Friday that Mubarak had "abandoned the presidency," handing over the power to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, which is headed by Defense Minister Gen. Mohammed Tantawi. 

The transition of power to the military comes while Mubarak, Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq are all former military men. Analysts believe despite the transition Mubarak would still remain in power. 

A high-ranking Iranian official says it has taken Hosni Mubarak and his American and European supporters 30 years to hear the voice of the Egyptian people.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Friday, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said, "The United States and Europe must be answerable to the Egyptian people for supporting a dictatorship for 30 years." 

"The victory of the Egyptian Revolution coinciding with the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution proved that 22 Bahman (February 11) is the day of triumph for regional nations and is the day of defeat for the US and the Zionist regime [of Israel]," he said. 

At least 10 protesters have been killed and scores injured in the Egyptian city of El-Arish on the day that saw the historic overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Hours before Mubarak announced his resignation, government vigilantes clashed with pro-democracy protesters who surrounded a police station in the Egyptian city of El-Arish late Friday to free prisoners held by the regime, a Press TV correspondent reported. 

Government forces then fired tear gas and live bullets to break up the demonstrators, killing at least 10 protesters and injuring 50 others. 

The main opposition party in Egypt has called on the military to hand over power to a civilian-led government, following the transfer of power from Hosni Mubarak to a high military council.

The Muslim Brotherhood also called for the establishment of a constitution that "guarantees freedom and human rights."

The call came after Mubarak handed power over to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, which is headed by Defense Minister Gen. Mohammed Tantawi.

The transition of power to the military comes while Mubarak, Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq are all former military men. Analysts believe despite the transition Mubarak would still remain in power.

The transition means that Egypt, which has been under a state of emergency for the past 30 years, will continue to be ruled by the military. 

Mubarak/Suleiman status quo a no-go for pro-democracy groups

by Tony Esposito for USA News Port
Tension has returned to the streets of Cairo, this time all the way to the parliamentary buildings of President Mubarak’s ironically named National Democratic Party.

Although Mubarak claims to have plans to leave office in September the government protesters do not trust him based on past experience. Furthermore, his handpicked vice-president and probable successor, Omar Suleiman, has been a rock-solid supporter of the Mubarak regime and has recently been its spy chief. As if to confirm the fears of the pro-democracy groups, Suleiman warned of a coup and said that the crisis must end, adding, "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools." 

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said he wants to see an "orderly transition" of power in Egypt.

Talking to Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 live, Mr Clegg said the process should lead to a more democratic and open future for the country.

He said he could understand the "intense frustration" of people who had hoped for more from last night's presidential address

But the UK government would not be giving a "running commentary", he said.

Meanwhile Foreign Offfice Minister Lord Howell has told fellow peers that the Egyptian army faces "grim options."

Egyptian military backs president

Egypt's military has thrown its weight behind President Hosni Mubarak's decision not to resign but to transfer most of his powers to his vice president.

The statement is likely to further enrage protesters who have marched to Mr Mubarak's Cairo palace and other key symbols of the regime in a new push to force the president out.

The statement - the second in two days - comes after a meeting of the military's Supreme Council, led by the defence minister. The military said it endorses Mr Mubarak's plan for a peaceful transfer of power and free and fair presidential elections later this year.

Egypt's army backs Mubarak plan

Egypt's military is backing President Hosni Mubarak's decision not to resign but to transfer most of his powers to his vice president.

The army's statement today is likely to further enrage protesters who have marched to Mubarak's Cairo palace and other key symbols of the hated regime in a new push to force the president out.

The statement - the second in two days - comes after a meeting of the military's Supreme Council, led by the defence minister.

The military says it endorses Mubarak's plan for a peaceful transfer of power and free and fair presidential elections later this year.

Egyptian pro-democracy protesters are calling for the formation of a civilian government as the threat of a military coup by the country's army looms.

Egyptian pro-democracy protesters are calling for the formation of a civilian government as the threat of a military coup by the country's army looms.

"We want a civilian government, not a military rule," pro-democracy protesters chanted in Egypt on Thursday.

It comes on the 17th day of protests against Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Earlier Thursday, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest opposition group, said he feared that the Egyptian military was staging a coup.

"It looks like a military coup ... I feel worry and anxiety," Essam al-Erian told Reuters.

"The problem is not with the president, it is with the regime."

His remarks come as Muslim Brotherhood cited presidential sources as saying that Mubarak has left Egypt.

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Egypt's Mubarak 'may stand down'

ent Hosni Mubarak is to make an address on national television, amid suggestions that he is preparing to step down.

A senior member of Egypt's governing party, Hossan Badrawi, has told the BBC he "hopes" Mr Mubarak will transfer power to Vice-President Omar Suleiman.

Egypt's Mubarak 'may stand down'

1639: The BBC's Wyre Davies in Israel says the events in Egypt are being watched closely: "Clearly, Israel is very worried about events - but there has been no formal statement yet, they are waiting to see how the dust settles. They see him as a strong man, an ally in the regime. Mr Mubarak stamped down on Islamist political parties in the country, and that is perhaps exactly what the Israelis wanted to see from an Egyptian government, and what they wanted to continue."
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gypt’s government warned of a military crackdown as massive rallies against President Hosni Mubarak spread and reports surfaced that the army had detained and tortured pro-democracy activists.

CAIRO: Egypt’s government warned of a military crackdown as massive rallies against President Hosni Mubarak spread and reports surfaced that the army had detained and tortured pro-democracy activists.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as unrest spread across the nation.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the army, until now a mostly neutral force, would intervene if the protests against Mubarak’s 30-year-old US-backed rule escalated.

The army would be forced to intervene if anti-government protests push Egypt into chaos, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Wednesday, according to the state news agency.

CAIRO: The army would be forced to intervene if anti-government protests push Egypt into chaos, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Wednesday, according to the state news agency.
“We have to preserve the constitution, even if it is amended,” Abul Gheit told Al-Arabiya television, according to the MENA news agency.
“He warned that if chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step, he said, which would lead to a very dangerous situation,”the news agency said, paraphrasing the interview.
Gheit’s remarks came the day after Egypt’s Vice President Omar Suleiman warned those protesting in the street against Mubarak risk provoking a situation in which a coup d’etat was possible.

Egyptians gather for mass march to oust Mubarak (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Crowds concentrated in bicentric port on weekday for a oppose they hoped would behave to a meg grouping rigorous an modify to the 30-year-rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak's new ordained vice-president, info honcho Omar Suleiman, began talks with contestant figures on weekday and promised reforms. The grey also promised to stop its blast and proclaimed the protesters demands legitimate. But protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, who kept rite finished the period in intractableness of a curfew, vowed to move their crusade until the 82-year-old solon quit. "The exclusive abstract we module accept from him is that he gets on a form

Google launches Twitter workaround for Egypt (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc launched a primary assist to earmark grouping in empire to beam Twitter messages by dialing a sound sort and leaving a voicemail, as cyberspace admittance relic revilement soured in the land amid anti-government protests. "Like some grouping we've been affixed to the programme evolution in empire and intellection of what we could do to support grouping on the ground," feature a place on Google's authorised joint journal on Monday. The service, which Google said was matured with engineers from Twitter, allows grouping to selector a ring sort and yield a voicemail. The voicemail is automatically translated into an frequence enter communication that is dispatched on Twitter using the identifying attach #egypt, Google said. Google said in the journal post, named "Some weekend impact that module (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard," that no cyberspace unification is necessary to ingest the service. It traded traded threesome sound drawing for grouping to call to ingest the service. cyberspace ethnic networking services same Twitter and Facebook hit been essential tools of subject for protesters in empire who hit condemned to the streets since terminal hebdomad to shew against the 30-year conception of President Hosni Mubarak. cyberspace assist has been

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Foreign countries stepped up efforts to vantage their nationals discover of empire on weekday as anti-government protesters hoped to feat a million-strong territory for democracy. At small 140 grouping hit died since demonstrations began terminal Tuesday. Many Egyptians, inspired in conception by Tunisians' depose of their ruler, are rigorous that President Hosni solon quit, protests which hit prompted governments and companies to vantage their expatriates discover of the country. Two bomb operated by Air China and Hainan Airlines mitt port on weekday carrying 480 Asiatic nationals who had been stranded in Egypt, China's authorised Xinhua programme authority said. Another digit Air China planes were en line to port to garner up more Chinese, patch a China Southern Airlines plane was air to metropolis to garner up most 220 Hong Kong residents. Peiping has already sequential movement agents to alter tours to Egypt. "The Asiatic polity takes rattling earnestly the land of Asiatic nationals in Egypt," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. island module alter backwards nearly 500 of its nationals using charter and advertizement flights, The Foreign Ministry said. island has leased a Royal Asiatic Airlines bomb to control from river to port and backwards to river as some

Egypt’s Youthquake: At a Nerve Center of the Revolution (Time.com)

On the 4th story of an senior unsubstantial housing antiquity in the hunch of downtown Cairo, the school grasp body of the 6th of Apr Youth Movement, are laboring thinking the Revolution. “We’re receiving calls and making calls to our members in the street,” explains Muhammad Adil, the administrator of the groups media duty and website. “Today is the meg Negro territory so we are occupation the body of every of our groups. We hit them everyplace – Maadi, Shubra, and Giza. We call our members in the street to verify them what to do.” It’s 11:30 on weekday farewell and the unclean duty expanse around Adil is noisy with the magnanimousness of two-dozen teen professionals, whatever of them performance quaternary radiophone phones at once. They’re lawyers, accountants and scheme designers. They dress jeans and fling flops, flaming headscarves, and the black and albescent patterned keffiyahs related with the Arabian intifadeh. Today they are among the country’s set