Cairo: Thousands of Egyptian demonstrators
greeted new Prime Minister Essam Sharaf with raucous cheers of
support in Cairo`s Tahrir Square today, a day after he was
named to the post.
"Lift your head up high, you`re Egyptian," the
protesters chanted in the same way they had when president
Hosni Mubarak resigned on February 11 after nearly three weeks
of bloody anti-government protests.
Some formed a human tunnel to allow Sharaf -- who was
appointed by the country`s new military rulers yesterday -- to
walk through the crush of supporters.
Previous premier Ahmed Shafiq stood down yesterday.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took
power upon Mubarak`s resignation, has pledged to oversee a
transition to a free democratic system.
But protesters had continued to gather in Tahrir
Square after Mubarak`s overthrow to demand that the caretaker
government headed by Shafiq be purged of members of the old
regime.
Today`s protest, which was meant to press for change,
turned into a massive celebration following news that Shafiq
had been replaced by Sharaf.
The new premier, who served briefly as a transport
minister under Mubarak, had joined protesters in Tahrir Square
during the uprising to demand political and economic change.
PTI
