Egypt army urges unity, criticises strikes

Egypt's army called on Monday for national solidarity, urged workers to play their role in reviving the economy and criticized strike action, after many employees have been emboldened by protests to demand better pay.

In "Communique No. 5" read out on state television, the army spokesman said: "Noble Egyptians see that these strikes, at this delicate time, lead to negative results", adding that it harmed security and economic production.

He also said the army "calls on citizens and professional unions and the labour unions to play their role fully."

Having suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament on Sunday, moves welcomed by those who saw both institutions as perverted to Mubarak's personal ends, the armed forces council was planning, a military source said, to stifle further disruption and get the country back to work.

Troops and military police cleared the last pro-democracy protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square which they had occupied for more than two weeks.

The square, the heart of an 18-day revolt that forced Mubarak to step down, was the scene of violent clashes when police tried to disperse demonstrations that erupted on Jan. 25.

Hundreds of police in uniform and plainclothes, meanwhile, marched in Tahrir Square to show solidarity with protesters.

Waving Egyptian flags, the police demonstrators shouted "We and the people are one", witnesses said. Policemen said they wanted to "honor the martyrs of the revolution."

Talks with cyber activists

The Egyptian cyber activists who were the driving force behind the uprising that forced strongman Mubarak to step down, meanwhile, said they had met the country's military rulers to discuss democratic reform.

"We met the army ... to understand their point of view and lay out our views," said Google executive Wael Ghonim and blogger Amr Salama, in a note on a pro-democracy website that helped launch the revolt.

Eight activists held talks on Sunday with General Mahmoud Hegazy and General Abdul Fattah, two members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a body of some 20 generals who were mostly unknown to the public before the uprising.

The meeting is a sign of the army's break with the style of Mubarak's regime, which was slow to acknowledge youth activists as a legitimate opposition force.

"The army has stressed that it does not seek to rule Egypt and that a civil state is the only way forward," Ghonim and Salama said.

The council has vowed it would pave the way for an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state, and said that the cabinet picked by Mubarak on Jan. 31 would remain in place to run state affairs.

The activists said the army told them that a referendum would take place in two months over amendments to the constitution, which was suspended on Sunday as both houses of parliament were dissolved.

A panel "would finish working on the amendments within 10 days, and then there will be a referendum within two months," the activists said.

The army could not be reached for comment and the activists did not immediately respond to requests for more details.

Free and fair elections will come, the army earlier said, under a revised constitution -- but it gave no timetable beyond saying that the military would be in charge "for a temporary period of six months or until the end of elections to the upper and lower houses of parliament, and presidential elections."

Nor did it detail what civilian or other participation there would be in amending basic laws during the transition. The cabinet appointed by Mubarak last month will go on governing, submitting legislation to the army chiefs for approval.

U.S. telephone diplomacy

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, embarked on a round of telephone diplomacy Sunday, calling several top officials including India's foreign minister to discuss Egypt's transition away from authoritarian rule.

Clinton "is making calls to regional and global leaders to gain a shared perspective on Egypt, recent developments and the way forward," her spokesman Philip Crowley said in a message on his Twitter account.

The top U.S. diplomat made calls to Greek Prime Minister Georges Papandreou as well as Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna, with whom she discussed developments in Egypt as well as his "recent dialogue with Pakistan," Crowley said.

And in a call with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the two discussed "Egypt, its impact on the Middle East and other regional issues," Crowley said.

Crowley said in a separate Twitter message that Clinton also consulted with chief European Union diplomat Catherine Ashton, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Mubarak, who resigned on Friday after three decades in power, and Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who departed after ruling for 23 years on Jan. 14, both bowed to unprecedented waves of popular protests.

Leaders throughout the Arab world have been watching the events closely, wary that the pro-democracy uprisings might inspire similar revolutions in the region.

Strikes and sit-ins

Inspired by the success of the 18 days of popular protests which, with the blessing of the army, forced Mubarak to end his 30 years in power on Friday, workers across Egypt have begun to agitate for better deals.

Bank staff forced officials to make Monday an unscheduled bank holiday -- running into a public holiday already set for Tuesday. And employees elsewhere took to the streets.

There have been reports of protests, sit-ins and strikes at, in the main, state-owned institutions. These include the stock exchange, textile firms, media organizations, steel firms, the postal service and railways, the police and the health ministry.

The workers cite an array of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.

"Finally we have been encouraged to come out and speak," said Hala Fawzi, a 34-year-old mother of two protesting on Sunday outside the offices of the state-owned insurance company where she works for $20 a month. "We want equality," she said, according to Reuters.

The army, however, is keen to get Egypt working again. It will be aware of the turmoil still going on in Tunisia, where an uprising that unseated another ageing Arab autocrat last month provided the inspiration for Egyptians to take to the streets.

No to "chaos and disorder"

Jihad Laban, an accountant, said much work remained to make sure the revolution did not squander what it had gained.

"The goal was never just to get rid of Mubarak. The system is totally corrupt and we won't go until we see some real reforms," said Jihad Laban, an accountant. "I am going to be buried in Tahrir. I am here for my children."

After six decades underpinning presidents who have all been drawn from its ranks, the army can still draw on deep reserves of public sympathy. That was enhanced by its refusal to join police in attacking demonstrators during the uprising.

However, leaders of the protest movement have warned that they stand ready to demonstrate in force if their demands are not met for a complete change from the old ways. A major "Victory March" is in the planning for this coming Friday.

"The two big questions now are who is going to be on the constitutional committee to redraft (the constitution), and are there any guarantees that what they come up with is then going to be deemed the way ahead," said Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East Policy Studies at City University London.

The goal was never just to get rid of Mubarak. The system is totally corrupt and we won't go until we see some real reforms. I am going to be buried in Tahrir. I am here for my children

Jihad Laban

Army's first steps

Many opposition figures were pleased with the army's first steps, however. "It is a victory for the revolution," said Ayman Nour, who challenged Mubarak for the presidency in 2005 and was later jailed. "I think this will satisfy the protesters."

They have demanded the release of political prisoners, the lifting of a state of emergency, the abolition of military courts, fair elections and a swift handover to civilian rule.

The army has said it would lift emergency law, used to stifle dissent under Mubarak, when "current circumstances end". But it has not specified a timetable.

"There are still a lot of grey areas, but it is clear that these decisions are opening the door for an entirely new system to come to order," said Hassan Abu Taleb of Cairo's al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Any transition to democracy will be fraught with difficulty and old ways of doing things may die hard in a country where the ruling party routinely rigged elections and candidates used bribery, hired thugs and dirty tricks to ensure victory.

Existing registered parties are mostly small, weak and fragmented. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which under the now suspended constitution could not form a party, may be the best organized group, but its true popularity has yet to be tested.

Its strength worries some in the United States, a key backer of Mubarak, as well as in Israel, for which Mubarak's Egypt was an important ally in an otherwise hostile Arab region.

On Saturday, the army said it would uphold Egypt's international obligations. These include a peace treaty with Israel, whose defense minister has been in touch with his Egyptian counterpart, who heads the military council.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said Mubarak was in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and that the cabinet had not made any request to freeze the deposed president's assets abroad.

A British minister said there should be an international approach to dealing with Mubarak's overseas assets. Many believe he and his family may have billions of dollars worth of assets abroad, which Egyptians may in time try to retrieve.

There are still a lot of grey areas, but it is clear that these decisions are opening the door for an entirely new system to come to order

Hassan Abu Taleb, al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies