Nearly five thousand demonstrators gathered for prayer in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday ahead of a planned protest, after a cabinet reshuffle failed to convince them to end their sit-in.
Demonstrators chanted against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). "We do not want military rule,” and "Down, down, Field Marshal," in reference to head of the SCAF Hussein Tantawi, could be heard.
In a sermon delivered to the square, Imam Mazhar Shaheen of the Omar Makram mosque said the cabinet reshuffle failed to meet the expectations of protesters, who want members of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's regime out of politics.
“The last time we met, we had hoped that the government would answer and implement our demands,” said Shaheen, who has been giving a weekly sermon in Tahrir.
“But for a reason we don't know, they insist on subjecting us to members of the old regime,” Shaheen told onlookers, who turned out in significantly smaller numbers than in previous weeks.
Shaheen reiterated the protesters' demands for fair trials for officials found guilty of abuse, social justice, and an end to military trials for civilians.
The new ministers in the reshuffled cabinet were sworn in Thursday in a move Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had hoped would mollify the protesters camped out since 8 July.
Tariq al-Malt, spokesperson for the Wasat Party, said his party would not participate in the demonstration. Other Islamist forces have also boycotted Friday’s protest on the grounds that it is critical of the military.
Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa said protesters should give the new government an opportunity to achieve the goals of the revolution.
