AL ARABIYA – AFP 
Protesters continuing to mark the anniversary of the Egyptian uprising marched to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday, hailing it the “Friday of Pride and Dignity” as they demanded democratic change.
The protesters were joined by almost 60 political parties and movements, including the April 6 Youth Movement, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Revolutionary Socialists and the Justice and Freedom Youth Movement, Egyptian state newspaper al-Ahram reported.
Organized marches left Cairo mosques after noon prayers and headed for Tahrir, the heart of the Egyptian revolution protests last year.
“Down with military rule!” shouted demonstrators who left the Istiqama mosque in Giza, echoing the growing discontent over the military junta’s handling of the transition from power since the ouster of Mubarak in February 2011.
“Legitimacy comes from the square,” they chanted, clapping and waving flags.
In Tahrir, thousands had gathered in prayer in the center of the square, among the tents that marked a sit-in launched on Wednesday, the first anniversary of the start of the uprising.
Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the imam leading the prayers, said that while the revolt had produced notable achievements, the journey towards democratic rule was far from over.
“People came out on January 25, 2011 to call for freedom, justice, dignity and the end of a regime that spread all forms of corruption,” Shahin told the crowd.
“They managed to remove the head of the regime in just 18 days and put some of its symbols behind bars. However, the revolution has not achieved all its goals and that is what brought people out on the streets again on the first anniversary,” Shahin said.
Protests also erupted in the canal city of Suez and in Alexandria, where protesters caught in the rain chanted: “Even if it rains cats and dogs, down down with the military council,” al-Ahram reported.
But later in the day, an Egyptian television producer Ahmed Ragab posted on social media site Twitter that residents of Abbassya, where pro-military demonstrations have been held over the past months in opposition to Tahrir, are holding cudgels and bladed weapons as they wait for the march heading towards the Ministry of Defense.
In Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood, which swept the majority of seats in the new parliament through its Freedom and Justice Party, occupied a part of the square where the mood was celebratory.
On the other side, the chants were strongly anti-military.
“None of the goals of the revolution have been achieved. What are they celebrating for? Because they won seats in parliament?,” Fahd Ibrahim, an anti-military protester told AFP news agency in reference to the Islamists.
But a Muslim Brotherhood member insisted that both camps want the same thing.
“We are here to mark one year since January 25. We also want to push for the goals of the revolution,” said Essam Elsawy. “We want the same thing. But each is taking a different route.”
Protesters are all demanding an end to military trials of civilians, the restructuring of the interior ministry and a guarantee of freedoms and social justice.
But Islamists have been less vocal in demanding the military step down.
Friday’s rallies mark a year since the army was deployed to control the deadly protests calling for an end to Mubarak’s regime.
The military took power when Mubarak resigned on February 11, in a dramatic turn of events for the Arab world’s most populous nation who had known the same president for 30 years.
But a year later, many are disenchanted and even angry at the ruling military, who protesters accuse of human rights abuses and of reneging on promises of reform.
“Leave!” the independent daily Al-Fagr told the military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s longtime defense minister.
Friday’s rally is to send “the military back to the barracks,” the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm said on its front page.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has vowed to cede power to civilian rule by June when a new president has been elected, and has repeatedly pointed to the parliamentary elections as proof of its intention to abandon politics.
But protesters accuse the military of seeking to maintain some degree of control over the country’s affairs, even after June.
