Egypt's military dissolves parliament

Egypt's military rulers have dissolved the country's parliament and suspended the constitution, meeting two key demands of pro-democracy protesters in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

In their latest communique released Sunday, the military leaders who took power whenMubarak stepped down Friday said they will run the country for six months, or until presidential and parliament elections can be held.

The communique said the military leadershipwould form a committee to amend the constitution and set the rules for popular referendum to endorse the amendments.

On the streets,Egyptian soldiers havebeen trying to clear the protest camp set up in the square in central Cairo, thescene of anti-government protests, butthere has beenresistance.

Soldiers scuffled with protesters as they tried to movethe remainingfew thousand hardcore protesters into onecorner of Tahrir Square or onto sidewalksto allowtraffic to move through the area.

There wereheated exchanges,but the process was generally peaceful. Many local residentsalso shouted at demonstrators that it was time toleave. However, severalprotesters could be seenstreaming back into the square.

"There's a jumble of traffic trying to get through the square, and now there's hundreds of protesters who have remained, being joined by hundreds of others," CBC's Nahlah Ayed said.

Ramy Mohammed, who has been camped on the square since the protests began on Jan. 25, said some troops beat the protesters with sticks as they tried to clear the square.

"We were chanting peacefully," the 28-year-old said. "They wanted to remove the tents but we still need guarantees."

Elsewhere in the city,lifeappeared to be largely returning to normal as Egyptians ushered in a second day in nearly 30 years without Mubarak as their ruler.

Egypt'smilitary rulers,who are now in charge,have promisedto abide by the peace treaty with Israel and eventually hand over power to an elected government.

At the same time,a coalition of youth and opposition groups that was the driving force of the movement called forweekly mass demonstrations every Friday to keep pressure on the military leadership to keep their promises for reform.

With Mubarak gone, Egypt's future will likely be shaped by three powers: the military, the protesters, and the sprawling autocratic infrastructure of Mubarak's regime that remains in place, dominating the bureaucracy, the police, state media and parts of the economy.

Coalition presents demands

The coalition behind the protests issued a list of demands:lifting of emergency law; creation of a presidential council, made up of a military representative and two "trusted personalities"; the dissolving of the ruling party-dominated parliament; and the forming of a broad-based unity government and a committee to either amend or completely rewritethe constitution.

The Armed Forces Supreme Council is now the official ruler after Mubarak handed it power on Friday. It consists of the commanders of each military branch, the chief of staff and Defence Minister Hussein Tantawy.

The military seized power after pleas from protesters, and it has repeatedly promised to ensure democratic change, making it highly popular with the movement.

But on the face of it, the elderly generals are not reformers, and their move to push out Mubarak may have been more to ensure the survival of a ruling system the military has been intertwined with since a 1952 army coup.

Blair urges 'sensible approach' to Muslim Brotherhood

In an interview onSunday, former British prime minister and current Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said the West should remain sensible and be neither complacent nor "hysterical" aboutEgypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Thegroup, once banned in Egypt, has now resurfaced as a major opposition forceduring Mubarak's ouster.

"They are not terrorists or extremists,"Blair told the BBC, though he added the Brotherhood is not his ideal political party.

Blair also called Mubarak's departure "a moment of huge exhiliration" for democracy, economic change and social reform.

But he also tempered those comments with recognition for Mubarak's role as a key partner in the Mideast peace process.

"You can't invite him to the White House five months ago and I was there with President Obama as a partner in peace and then simply forget all that," Blair said.

"He was a force for stability in the region and the peace process. There were economic changes in Egypt that were beneficial over the past years."

[GALLERY id=4422 cat=world]