At least one dead as Egyptian military disperses Tahrir protesters

Troops were dispering an overnight demonstration calling for the ouster of the defense minister, with 71 others reported injured, many from bullet wounds.

CAIRO // Egyptian forces, dispersing an overnight sit-in in Tahrir Square, killed two protesters on Saturday, medics said, in the first reported deaths in the Cairo plaza since president Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

The health ministry put the official toll at one dead and 71 injured, many from bullet wounds but others with breathing difficulties or having been struck during clashes.

Witnesses said that troops, backed by riot police, fired live rounds mostly in the air and beat protesters who had camped out in the square after tens of thousands rallied on Friday for the prosecution of Mubarak and other leading figures of his regime.

A military official, under cover of anonymity, said: "We did not fire live bullets," adding that an inquiry was under way into the incidents.

Earlier, an official said the army had used only blanks in dispersing protesters, who included at least seven dissident army officers.

The medics, who said 17 people were also wounded, did not say whether the deaths were caused by live rounds.

If confirmed, they would be the first deaths in the square since it became the iconic focal point of the 18 straight days of protests that triggered Mubarak's resignation on February 11.

The military withdrew from the square in the morning, prompting the swift return of at least 200 protesters, and by the afternoon that figure had swelled to around a thousand.

A military bus was still in flames, and stones and bullet casings littered the ground from the overnight violence.

The protesters, many of whom wielded clubs, called for the head of the military council which took the reins when Mubarak quit, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, to relinquish power.

Tantawi was the ousted president's defence minister for two of his three decades in power.

The demonstrators cordoned off entrances to the square with barbed wire abandoned by military police.

The mood was tense as some protesters surrounded a man who objected to their presence, pummelling him with punches and kicks before other demonstrators intervened.

The military had moved in after the tens of thousands who rallied on Friday were joined by dissident army officers.

The interim military government said that "elements from the interior ministry" backed by civilians had cleared the "outlaws" from the square, in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency.

But the mood early on Saturday was decidedly anti-military.

"I've come to Tahrir Square because we are witnessing a counter-revolution," student Malik Asam told AFP.

Another student, Anas Mohamed, said: "I had expected to see the other face of the military, but if they carry on as they are, they will see the other face of the people."

During the mass rally after the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, protesters were joined by at least seven dissident officers who called for the "purification" of the army.

At midnight (2200 GMT) on Friday, the officers were still in the square, gathered in a tent surrounded by more than a dozen protesters who wanted to guard them against arrest.

Cairo remains under a 2 am to 5 am curfew.

"Elements from the interior ministry along with some noble citizens confronted the riotous actions and enforced the curfew without any losses," the armed forces statement carried by MENA said.

A separate statement posted on the military's Facebook page blamed "remnants" of the formerly ruling National Democratic Party for the demonstration, and said it had ordered the arrest of four party members it accused of "thuggery" during the sit-in.

Friday's rally, dubbed the "Day of Trial and Cleansing," was a colourful affair as flag-waving protesters vowed to press the ruling military council to deliver on promises of reform and justice.

Seven army officers defied a warning from the ruling military council when they joined the protesters' call for former regime elements to face trial.

"Our demands are your demands. We want a civilian government. We want to try corrupt people," one officer said to loud cheers.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, that took power after Mubarak's ouster, warned that anyone protesting in military uniform on Friday would face trial in a military court.