Truce quiets Cairo, vote to go ahead

CAIRO - A truce between Egyptian riot police and protesters succeeded on Thursday in calming violence that has killed 39 people in five days, and the army said there would be no delay to a parliamentary vote scheduled for next week.

Demonstrations by thousands of Egyptians furious at the slow transfer of power by military leadership to civilian rule have led to violent clashes with police, in scenes similar to the popular uprising that toppled leader Hosni Mubarak in February.

The demonstrators have vowed not to leave Cairo's central Tahrir Square, which once again has become the cradle of public protest in the most populous Arab country.

Egypt's ruling military council said it was doing all it could to prevent the repetition of violence.

In a statement, it apologized, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest.

A ruling council member, General Mamdouh Shaheen, said at a news conference there would be no delay to the parliamentary vote, scheduled for Monday. "We will not delay elections. This is the final word," he said.

Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the parliamentary election committee, said at the news conference that voting at embassies abroad had started on Wednesday and would go on until Saturday. "For Egyptians abroad, we added a new article allowing them to cast their ballots. This law was passed three or four days ago. The law is in force," he said.

Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold beginning at midnight. At midday, tear gas still lingered in the air, but there were no clashes. A crane was hauling a huge concrete barrier across the main street leading from the square to the Interior Ministry, a flashpoint for much of the recent violence.

"Since about midnight or 1 am there were no more clashes. We are standing here to ensure no one goes inside the cordon," said Mohamed Mustafa, 50, among a group barring a street nearby.

At the other end of the street, littered with shattered glass, lumps of concrete and heaps of rubbish, at least two army armored personnel carriers blocked the route. Mustafa's group said police were on the front line, and behind them the army.

The sustained protests in Cairo and some other cities pose the gravest challenge to Egypt's army rulers since the council led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi took over from Mubarak, who was overthrown on Feb 11.

The demonstrations appear to have polarized Egyptians, many of whom worry that unrest will prolong economic stagnation that has deepened the poverty of millions.

In a new blow to confidence, Standard & Poor's cut Egypt's long-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings to B+ from BB-, with a negative outlook. It said Egypt's "weak political and economic profile" had deteriorated further.

The United States and European nations, alarmed at the violence of the past few days, have urged Egypt to proceed with what has been billed as its first free vote in decades.

REUTERS -XINHUA