Egyptians protest against military rule

CAIRO, April 20 (UPI) -- Egyptian revolutionaries will hang in Cairo's central square if the leaders from the previous regime returned to power, a cleric said during Friday prayers.

Egyptians flocked to Tahrir Square to express frustration with the pace of reforms following last year's revolution. The ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces had promised to hand power over to civilians by June 2011.

Sheik Mazhar Shahin, in a sermon Friday, called on Egyptians to unite in opposition to military rule.

"If those who ruled us before the Jan. 25 revolution returned, they would not have mercy upon the people, and they would hang revolutionaries in Tahrir Square," he was quoted by Egyptian news service al-Ahram as saying.

Intelligence chief and former Vice President Omar Suleiman announced his intention to run for president in next month's election but was banned along with a number of other candidates, including a leader from the Muslim Brotherhood.

More than a dozen political movements in the country this week expressed concern that SCAF was seeking to control the post-revolution political environment in Egypt.

Revolutionary groups called for unity and civil disobedience during Friday demonstrations, said to be among the largest in the country since last year's revolution.