By Ben Hubbard /AP
CAIRO: A crowd of tens of thousands swelled in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Tuesday, demanding that Egypt’s military leaders quickly hand over power to a civilian government. The ruling military council held crisis talks with leaders of political parties across the spectrum to try to defuse growing calls for a “second revolution.”
The military head of state, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, was expected to address the nation imminently as protests and clashes in Cairo and other major cities carried on for a fourth day.
The military-appointed government submitted its resignation on Monday, apparently in response to some of the demands of the protesters. But the military has not yet said whether it accepted the resignation.
Three American students at the American University of Cairo, which sits on Tahrir Square, were arrested outside the university’s campus Monday night, the AUC said.
University spokeswoman Rehab Saad told The Associated Press the three are on a study abroad program and the university is in touch with their families and the US Embassy over the matter.
An Egyptian Interior Ministry official said the three were arrested while on the roof of one of the university’s buildings throwing firebombs at security forces who were fighting protesters in Tahrir Square.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to speak to the media.
State television showed brief footage of the three students, who appeared to be in their early 20s.
