- CAIRO: Egypt’s military leader has visited army troops in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the popular uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi’s tour Friday is his first since Egypt’s military took power on Feb. 11.
The army has had a heavy troop presence in and around Tahrir square since forcefully breaking up a weekslong sit-in by youth activists there early this month.
Tantawi’s visit comes hours ahead of a planned mass gathering in Tahrir mainly by youth activists and Sufis.
Apolitical Sufis are hoping to defy Islamic hard-liners who rallied tens of thousands in the square last month, calling for Islamic rule in Egypt.
It was not immediately clear whether the military would allow Friday’s rally to take place.
