Egypt protesters to stay despite PM promises

CAIRO — Protesters who spent their second night in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday vowed to keep up their sit-in despite a series of concessions by the Egyptian prime minister.Pro-democracy activists had camped out on the square -- the focus of protests that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February -- after mass nationwide rallies on Friday to demand political change.Hundreds who spent the night in the sweltering heat, blocked traffic around the square on Sunday morning, some forming a picket line outside the Mugamma, a huge government complex that is the centre of Egypt's sprawling bureaucracy."We managed to convince many of the employees not to go to work," said Ghada Shahbender, a human rights activist who has been protesting since the start of the January 25 uprising.Protesters have vowed to stay in the square until the demands of the revolution are met, including an end to military trials of civilians, the dismissal and prosecution of police officers accused of murder and torture -- before and after the revolution -- and open trials of former regime officials.After nearly two weeks of mounting tension marked by clashes with police, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Friday pledged to meet the demands of the protesters with a series of measures.Sharaf said he "issued direct orders to the interior minister to stop all police officers accused of killing protesters from working," in an address broadcast on state television.He also "ordered the creation of a panel to review the trials (of those accused of) killing protesters and of corruption as soon as possible," without waiting until after the judicial summer recess.He said he asked the ministry of social solidarity to look into the portfolios of health, education and salaries and pensions.But the speech was slammed as empty rhetoric with vague promises and no deadlines, with many activists accusing the prime minister of being too weak in the face of the ruling military council."We are still asking for no military rule of the country, and no pressure from

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