Truce quiets Cairo streets, army apologizes

An overnight truce between Egyptian riot police and protesters succeeded on Thursday in calming violence that has killed 39 people in five days, but demonstrators occupying Cairo's Tahrir Square vowed to stay until the army gives up power.

Egypt's ruling military council, which has vowed to start parliamentary elections as scheduled on Monday, said it was doing all it could to "prevent the repetition of these events."

In a statement, it apologized, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead, and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest.

Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold from midnight. At dawn the area was quiet for the first time in days.

"Since about midnight or 1 a.m. there were no more clashes. We are standing here to ensure no one goes inside the cordon," said Mohamed Mustafa, 50, among a group barring a street leading to the Interior Ministry, flashpoint for much of the violence.

They were guarding a barricade made of a broken metal fence, a telephone booth laid on its side and part of a lamp post.

At the other end of the street, littered with shattered glass, lumps of concrete and heaps of rubbish, at least two army armored personnel carriers blocked the route. Mustafa's group said police were on the front line, and behind them the army.

Lines of Tahrir protesters manned similar barriers to block access to Mohamed Mahmoud Street, scene of repeated fighting.