Egypt Defense Ministry: Time to Go Back to Normal Life

Protesters sleeping in Tahrir Square in central Cairo early 02 February 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The Egyptian defense ministry on Wednesday called on the demonstrators to return home, saying "it is time to go back to normal life".

"Your message is received ... (your) demands became known. And we are here and awake to protect the country for you ... not by power but by the love to Egypt," a ministry spokesman said in a TV broadcast. "It is time to go back to normal life."

Crowds -- including families with young children -- formed in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday. Some have camped out at Tahrir -- which means "freedom" or "liberation" in Arabic -- for a week. But the crowd Wednesday was noticeably smaller than on Tuesday, when demonstrators held a "march of millions" event in the city.

Egypt's army has widely seen as an arbiter in the crisis.

The presence of Egypt's military on the streets of Cairo has been welcomed by the protesters, especially since a military spokesman announced late on Monday that "it respected the people's rights to legitimate protest" and that "it has not and will not fire on protesters".

Meanwhile, internet access was back in at least parts of Egypt on Wednesday after having been cut for days by the government.

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