Egypt military pledges to speed up power transfer

LONDON. November 23. KAZINFORM Egypt's military rulers have agreed to speed up presidential elections, a key demand of protesters packing Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said on national TV they would happen by July 2012.

He said parliamentary elections due next week would go ahead and that a referendum on an immediate transfer of power would be organised if necessary, BBC News reports.

It follows days of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square over the pace of reform.

Tens of thousands of people continued to pack the square on Tuesday evening.

Witnesses said many appeared to reject the military's latest concessions, chanting: "We are not leaving, he (Tantawi) leaves."

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