Thousands rally against military rule in Egypt

Although the demonstration was originally called by liberal activists,most stayed away after it became clear the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist political parties would dominate. The Brotherhood,Egypt’s best organised political force,asked its members to show up as early as Thursday night to begin camping out in the square,the epicenter of the Arab Spring movement.

Tahrir’s centre was crowded by 11 pm Thursday,and by morning Friday it was as packed as it had been in the heady days of the revolution that felled Mubarak in February. The spark for the Islamists’ protests was a recent set of declarations issued by the military-led government as ground rules for the drafting of a new Constitution.

Many of its provisions sought to enshrine protections of individual liberties and minority rights that liberals have sought. But another provision granted the military a long-term political role as guardian of “constitutional legitimacy,” which many Islamists suspect is a reference to the secular character of the state and could give the military an excuse to intervene at will.

The protesters also criticised provisions that would protect the military from civilian scrutiny of its budget and give it veto power over certain foreign policy decisions.

Many of the Islamists who turned out denounced the military rulers for attempting to put themselves above the reach of future civilian authorities. They rebuked the military for repeatedly delaying its handover of power,initially promised by September and now scheduled for 2013 or later. Some said they supported the protections of civil liberties but that they should come from the people,while many others argued that the future Egyptian government should be free to implement its version of Islamic law.

Delivering the Muslim prayer sermon at the rally,Imam Mazhar Shahin urged protesters to keep defending the goals of the revolution. “Perhaps those who rule us think we will forget our cause with the passage of time. They are deluded,” he said of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,the formal name of the military authority that took power when Mubarak was ousted.