Thousands Rally in Tahrir Square

Thousands of Egyptians returned to Tahrir Square to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak. Islamists turned out to celebrate their recent electoral victory, while liberals came out to call for further reforms. In a concession to demonstrators, the interim military government partially lifted the decades-old emergency law and freed hundreds of people who had been sentenced to prison by military courts. However, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was vague about the lifting of the emergency law, saying it would still be applied in cases of “thuggery,” a term the military has applied to protesters demanding civilian rule.