Egypt's military apologizes for deaths in clashes

CAIRO - Egypt's ruling military council apologized for the deaths in the latest round of clashes which started over the weekend, it said on its official Facebook page early Thursday.

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) regretted and apologized for the martyears of the Egyptian people in recent clashes," it said.

It meanwhile "expressed condolences for the families of the martyears across the country," the statement added.

The ongoing protests and clashes, which began on Friday, have left 35 people dead and some 6,000 injured, official al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday.

In a move to placate protesters, SCAF head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said on Tuesday in his televised address to the nation that "the military does not expect to keep power" and that the military "is ready to hand over power immediately if people wish so" through a referendum.

But this failed to lighten demonstrations and clashes on Wednesday across Egypt, which is scheduled to hold the national election on November 28; and as of early Thursday, hundreds of protesters were still gathering in central Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the turmoil earlier this year which toppled Egypt 's ex-President Hosni Mubarak.

SCAF has also accepted the cabinet's resignation and said that presidential elections would take place by July 2012.