Cairo, February 13
In a major move to dismantle the vestiges of the Mubarak era, Egypt’s military today dissolved Parliament and suspended the country’s constitution, accepting the major demands of the protesters.

The Military Armed Council, that took over the reins of the administration after Hosni Mubarak bowed out under public pressure ending his 30-year reign, said it would stay in power for six months or until the elections are held to determine the next government of Egypt.

It also fixed a September date for elections that will eventually decide the country’s next government.

The move to dissolve Parliament along with the suspension of the constitution meets two major demands of the demonstrators camping at the Tahrir Square since 20 days.

Parliament that was elected last year had a majority of members of the National Democratic Party of Mubarak and was regarded as illegitimate by many people as widespread rigging was believed to have led to the ruling party’s overwhelming victory and the opposition’s wipeout.

In a communique read out on national television, the military council also announced that it would constitute a panel to amend the constitution to meet the demands of reform by the people, before submitting the changes to a popular referendum.

Today’s steps are the first major measures to remove the Mubarak-era relics of power after the erstwhile regime was overturned by a mass uprising.

The caretaker military government had yesterday promised to oversee a peaceful transition to democracy but many protesters had said they wanted to see more concrete measures before they can return to their daily life.

In fact, the army which tried to clear the Tahrir Square this morning, was met with resistance, with many protesters choosing to stay put until further guarantees from the new leadership.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said that his government’s first priority was to restore peace and normalcy to the country which has witnessed dramatic events over the past fortnight.

“Our main concern now as a cabinet is security. We need to bring back a sense of security to the Egyptian citizen,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s comments came after the cabinet held its first meeting today after Mubarak’s departure from power.

Earlier in the day, scuffles broke out between the soldiers and some of the protesters at the Tahrir Square after the Army tried to take control of the area.

Though hundreds of protesters still remained in the Square, life was inching towards normalcy in other parts of the country as markets and businesses reopened and Egyptians went back to daily work on their first working day post the fall of Mubarak. — PTI

Several ancient treasures were stolen from the Egyptian Museum, including a statue of King Tutankhamun, when looters broke in during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, authorities said on Sunday.

The pieces include a gilded wooden statue showing the boy pharaoh being carried by a goddess and parts of another statue of him harpooning fish, minister of state for antiquities Zahi Hawass said.

Looters broke into the museum in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on January 28 when anti-Mubarak protesters drove his despised police from the streets in a series of clashes and torched an adjacent ruling party building.

Museum director Tarek al-Awadi said looters went on a rampage, shattering 13 display cases and at least 70 artefacts. He added that curators were still carrying out an inventory to determine the extent of the losses.

The missing pieces include a limestone statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten holding an offering table, a statue of Queen Nefertiti making offerings and a sandstone head of a princess from Amarna, a vast archaeological site in central Egypt. — AFP

Sanaa, February 13
The Yemeni police clashed today with anti-government protesters staging a third-consecutive day of demonstrations calling for political reforms and the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Several thousand protesters, many of them university students, tried to reach the central square in the capital of Sanaa, but were pushed back by police using truncheons.

The ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after an 18-day uprising has emboldened protesters in Yemen and raised questions about the country’s stability and other Western-allied governments in the region. Saleh has been in power for three decades and has tried to defuse the unrest by promising not to run again. His term ends in 2013.

Witnesses said several protesters were injured and 23 were detained by police in today’s clashes. They said plainclothes policemen holding daggers and sticks also joined the security forces in driving the protesters back.

The protesters, chanting “people want to overthrow the regime”, tried to reach Hada square in downtown.

Demonstrators tried to reach Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, yesterday, but security forces pushed them back.

Buses ferried ruling party members, equipped with tents, food and water, to the city’s main square to help prevent attempts by protesters to gather there. — AP

Washington, February 13
Amid deepening diplomatic stand-off, the US has postponed a high-level meeting with Pakistan and Afghanistan after Islamabad refused its request to provide immunity to an American national accused of murder.

“In light of the political changes in Pakistan and after discussions with Afghan and Pakistani officials in Washington, it was agreed to postpone the trilateral meeting scheduled for February 23-24,” State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said.

No specific reason for the postponement of the meeting, being held after a gap of about two years, was given except that “in the light of the political development”.

The US describes detained Raymond Davis as a diplomat who is a member of “technical and administrative staff” of its embassy in Islamabad, but some Pakistani media reports have suggested that the American might have been a CIA operative who shot down two Pakistani men in a Lahore market, who he said were trying to rob him.

The postponement of the meeting also puts a question mark on the upcoming visit of Asif Ali Zardari in March and that of Barack Obama to Pakistan later this year.

The US has been demanding immediate release of Davis arguing that he enjoys diplomatic immunity; which has been denied by Pakistan.

“We remain committed to robust engagement between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the US, as we share many issues of mutual concern and benefit from being at the same table. We look forward to convening a very productive Trilateral Meeting at the earliest opportunity,” Crowley said. — PTI

Rome, February 13
Women rallied across Italy today, incensed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s sex scandal which they say has hurt their dignity and reinforced outdated gender stereotypes.

Thousands of protesters marched through Naples and Palermo, carrying banners calling for Berlusconi to resign and chanting “Italy is not a brothel”, television pictures showed.

Organised with an online petition, the protests reflect growing anger among women with the premier, who could soon face trial over a prostitution scandal in a country where middle-aged women have long been among his key voters.

Led by actresses, politicians and other prominent women, marches are due to take place in more than 200 cities across the mainly Catholic nation later in the day. Protests are also planned in other countries from the United States to Greece.

“We are asking all women to defend the value of our dignity, and we are asking men: if not now, when?” organisers said on the protest website.

Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday to bring Berlusconi to trial, accusing him of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is illegal in Italy. The 74-year old premier has dismissed the accusations as “disgusting and disgraceful” and said the Milan prosecutors’ office was acting for “subversive purposes” to target him.

The scandal has revived opposition calls for Berlusconi to resign at a time when he is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.

He has survived sex scandals in the past and many of his female supporters seem unperturbed by the latest case, decrying what they see as a puritanical and politically motivated ploy.

Several of his female supporters took part in pro-Berlusconi rallies this week in a show of support. “We support him with all of our hearts,” protester Stella Falcetta said with tears in her eyes at a rally in Milan on Friday.

President Giorgio Napolitano has warned political tensions are too high and told Berlusconi at a meeting on Friday that Italy risked facing new elections as a result.

Leaked wiretaps from the investigation have appeared in newspapers for weeks with references to bundles of cash, talk of sex games and gifts that women received after attending parties at Berlusconi’s villa. Campaigners say the one-sided image of women as sex objects has harmed gender relations and promoted a culture in which women see selling their good looks as the only route to success. — Reuters