Protesters scuffle with military in Tahrir Square

Rania

Cairo, Feb 13 (PTI) The Egyptian military today triedto wrest control of the now iconic Tahrir Square, removinghundreds of tents and barricades from the central site of theEgyptian revolution, but met with stiff resistance from someprotesters who demanded more substantial steps before theyreturn home.

As the Army tried to clear the Square to enable themovement of traffic, scuffles broke out between the soldiersand some of the protesters who have chosen to stay put untilfurther guarantees from the new leadership.

The military police chief has asked the area to becleared today but many demonstrators are in no mood to returneven after 20 days.

"We do not want any protesters to sit in the squareafter today," said Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa Ali, the head ofmilitary police.

Though hundreds of protesters still remained in theTahrir Square, life was inching towards normalcy as marketsand businesses reopened and Egyptians went back to daily workon their first working day post the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt''s cabinet is to meet for the first time afterMubarak''s departure from power, as anxious Egyptians waitedfor more concrete announcements towards a transition from thecaretaker government.

Protest organisers have already threatened morerallies if the Supreme Military Council, that is incharge ofthe government, fails to accept their agenda for reform.

"If the army does not fulfil our demands, our uprisingand its measures will return stronger," a protest leader wasquoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

The protesters have said they want the dissolution ofthe parliament and the lifting of a 30-year-old state ofemergency.

The Egyptian military which took control of theadministration after Mubarak stepped down has asked the peopleto get back to work to restore stability in the country, butmany people are worried about the possibility of the movementsquandering down with time. .