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CAIRO, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Egyptian military leader Moahamed Hussein Tantawi Tuesday pledged civilian elections will be held as scheduled next week. The field marshal's pledge came amid the fourth straight day of deadly protests against military rule.
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Tantawi, who heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took over following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February, said no violence has been used against protesters, CNN reported.
"We never fired one bullet against any Egyptian," Tantawi said.
Tantawi also said the council has accepted the Cabinet's resignation, which was offered Monday to protest the violence.
Tantawi said the council is committed to handing power over to a civilian government. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Monday. The BBC quoted Tantawi as saying presidential elections would be held in July.
Al-Youm al-Sabe reported earlier the council was considering asking presidential hopeful Mohammed ElBaradei to form a national salvation government but CNN quoted Tantawi as saying the current government would remain in a caretaker capacity.
Amnesty International said Tuesday Egypt's military rulers had "completely failed to live up their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights."
More than 30 people have been killed and 1,700 injured in clashes with Egyptian security forces since Saturday, various outlets have reported.
A fresh wave of violence erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square Tuesday morning amid reports of a planned million-person march in the capital to demand the military rulers relinquish power, CNN said.
Egyptian police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and ambulances rushed in and out of the square, the network said.
The ruling council's Gen. Sayed Abbas accused demonstrators of provoking the violence, saying they "have a right to protest, but we must stand between them and the Interior Ministry."
He said "unknown people" fired live ammunition at protesters from atop buildings to ignite rancor between the military and the people.
Several political groups delivered a collective apology to the protesters for not joining them sooner and "for not providing them with a political cover for the past 72 hours," Egyptian political scientist, human-rights activist and public intellectual Amr Hamzawy said on Twitter.
Three hospital doctors treating patients told The New York Times they saw as many as 10 patients killed by live ammunition, despite Interior Ministry denials.
The doctors said administrators had told them to deny any evidence of bullet wounds, the Times said.
Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmi said the parliamentary vote scheduled for Monday would be held on time regardless of whether the government stays in office or is replaced, MENA reported.
Former Arab League chief and presidential candidate Amr Moussa accused the protesters of attempting to spread more chaos and unrest in the country, al-Arabiya reported.
Moussa said the current violence sweeping the country is not a new revolution but the outcome of a misunderstanding due to the weakness of the government and the slowness in implementing its decisions. He called on the ruling military council to specify a timeline for handing powers over to a civilian authority, al-Arabiya said.
Meanwhile the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said in a statement Monday it would no longer participate in the protests, al-Masry al-Youm reported.
