AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Protesters' new push to force President Mubarak to step down may test the military's loyalties.Pro-democracy protesters in Egypt are calling for "millions" to take to the streets across the country in what could become the largest protests so far, a day after President Hosni Mubarak repeated his refusal to step down.
Massive crowds gathered in Tahrir Square ahead on Friday, chanting "the army and the people are one, hand in hand".
In a statement read out on state television at midday, the military announced that it would lift a 30-year-old emergency law but only "as soon as the current circumstances end".
The military said it would also guarantee changes to the constitution as well as a free and fair election, and it called for normal business activity to resume.
Many protesters had anticipated a much stronger statement. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tahrir Square said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to "a last and final stage".
"They're frustrated, they're angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions," she said.
Protest organisers have called for 20 million people to come out on "Farewell Friday" in a final attempt to force Mubarak to step down. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Friday, February 11, 2011
