Hundreds of thousands flock to Cairo\'s Tahrir Square

Protesters are flocking to TahrirSquare at Friday of "pride and dignity” Cairo – Akram Ali Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square after the Friday prayer in the first commemoration of the ‘Friday of Rage’, to stress on the demands of the revolution . Revolutionaries demand the handover of power to a civilian government, retribution for martyrs, dignity, freedom, and social justice.
The imam of the Omar Makram Mosque, Sheikh Mazhar Shaheen, led the Friday prayer stating in his sermon that the ‘pride and dignity’ Friday was not a celebration, but a means to continue the revolution.
The revolutionary cleric insisted that Egypt's protesters were keen to maintain a peaceful resistance and did not aim to bring the country down, as the media allegedly claimed. "Revolutionaries respect the army and the judiciaries as institutions," he added.
He also believed that the differences between the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and theprotesters were purely political, and warned of remaining regime figures clinging to power.
The imam also urged Egypt's new parliament to form a revolutionary court to try corrupt regime figures, and that all trials should be publicly broadcast.
Shaheen called on members of the parliament to perform prayer for the souls of the revolutionary dead next Tuesday in Tahrir Square, reminding MPs that "if it were not for the martyrs they would have not been in parliament".
The cleric added that MPs who did not acknowledge the legitimacy of Tahrir should resign from their posts.
He slammed what he called a biased media that "spread lies and manufactures truths", demanding a complete purge of the media.
Shaheen also demanded a complete and transparent audit of the Suez Canal's revenues over the past 30 years, as well as thorough audits of Mubarak and his cronies.
On a different note, Adel Adawi, Assistant to the Health Minister for Medical Affairs, stated that 63 ambulances and eight mobile clinics stocked with all necessities were based near Tahrir in addition to assigned paramedics, medical teams, and specialists.
Adawi stressed that all hospitals near the Square were well-supplied with staff and necessary equipment.
Meanwhile, a few protesters appeared in Abbasiya Square repeating chants like “the army and the people are one hand” and “Those who love Egypt should protect it”. Most of the Abbasiya protestors worked in tourism and had seen business seriously drop over the course of the revolution.
However, there were no pro-SCAF masses in Abbasiya Square, whereas some residents took to the streets holding banners in solidarity with Tahrir.  Activists set up four major Platforms, including one for the Muslim Brotherhood that was surrounded by some of the group youth to protect it from attacks by other demonstrators, so as not to repeat the events of January 25, the first anniversary of the revolution. Another platform was for revolutionary coalitions, and two for independents.
The square seemed calm, a while number of young people organised two marches before the Friday prayers, in preparation for the activities of the day.
Amongst preparations, a number of signs against the SCAF were hanged, which read: "Down, with military rule, Egypt is a country not a camp," and "Power and wealth are for the people".
Demonstrators distributed dozens of copies of the statement released by the revolutionary Socialist Movement in the streets of Cairo, inviting citizens to join the protests aiming at continuing to pursue the goals of the revolution.
Activists on Thursday had called for organising mass rallies to all public squares in governorates across Egypt on Friday to hold a “second Friday of rage”, to further stress on achieving the demands of the revolution. The invitation was accepted by several revolutionary forces.
The call for further protests followed a relatively peaceful celebration - and protest - of the first anniversary of the Egyptian revolution on Wednesday.
Egypt’s press on Thursday hailed the “revival” of the revolution after massive crowds took to the streets in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the canal city of Suez and in the Nile Delta and Sinai Peninsula.
“The revolution continues,” exclaimed the independent daily Al-Shorouq, saying millions of Egyptians wanted to see “the end of military rule.”
“The people want the continuation of the revolution,” proclaimed the state-owned Al-Ahram, above a large picture of massive crowds thronging Tahrir Square.