Cairo:
The Egyptian military, complying with most of the principal demands of the opposition, said Sunday that it had dissolved the country's parliament, suspended its constitution and called for elections in six months, according to a statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces read on state television. It also said it would honor all of Egypt's international agreements, including the peace treaty with Israel.
The military did not address a third demand to lift emergency rule. In previous statements, the council had promised to take that step once the security situation improved.
The announcement, the first indication of the direction the military intends to take the country, was welcomed by opposition leaders, who distrusted both houses of parliament after elections in the fall that were widely considered rigged. One of them, Ayman Nour, said that the military's actions should be enough to satisfy the protesters, some of whom nevertheless refused to leave Tahrir Square and resisted soldiers' attempts to evict them.
The military said it would form a committee to amend the constitution, which includes the emergency law despised by many protesters, and that the amendments would be approved by popular referendum. Confirming earlier statements, the council said that the civilian cabinet would remain in place over the next six months.
But even as calm seemed to be settling over Egypt, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in Yemen, with protesters clashing violently with security forces on Sunday. A small group tried to rush the palace of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Reuters reported. Mounting protests over the past few weeks have called for the ouster of Mr. Saleh, a strongman who has ruled this fractured country for more than 30 years and a key ally of the United States in the fight against terrorism. In response, Mr. Saleh has offered concessions and vowed to step down in 2013, though he has made similar promises before.
The announcement came only minutes after the prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, made his own appearance on state television and said the country's economy was "stable" and that the primary focus of the new caretaker government would be "to bring security back to the Egyptian citizen."
It was unclear whether the two statements were meant to complement each other. In Cairo's central Tahrir Square, cars began circling the roundabout for the first time in more than two weeks, as Egyptians and tourists flocked around pictures of dead protesters that hung from clotheslines at one end of the square.
The police, civilians and soldiers with guns slung over their shoulders arranged themselves in in human chains, in an ad hoc effort at crown control aimed at keeping the crowds from spilling into traffic.
Nearby, about 500 police officers joined protesters at the Interior Ministry and shouted for better wages.
Even as pockets of protests continued, however, a measure of normalcy returned to the capital. Just two days after Hosni Mubarak relinquished his post as president and withdrew to the resort of Sharm el Sheikh, the military council he ceded power to began to take shape. The military statement confirmed that Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, 75, considered a Mubarak loyalist, was the council's leader.
The military has sought to reassure Egyptians and the world that it would shepherd a transition to civilian rule and honor the country's international commitments. But even though it had begun acting on the protest movement's demands, it was still unclear how or when military leaders would meet directly with protest leaders in order to start the process of bringing opposition figures into the government. It was also unclear whether the entire opposition would be content to see leading figures from the Mubarak cabinet, like Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, preside over the transition.
Exultant and exhausted opposition leaders claimed their role in the country's future over the weekend, pressing the army to lift the country's emergency law and release political prisoners. And they vowed to return to Tahrir Square next week to celebrate a victory and honor those who had died in the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule.
The impact of Egypt's uprising rippled across the Arab world as protesters turned out not just in Yemen but in Algeria, where the police arrested leading organizers. The Palestinian leadership responded by announcing that it planned to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by September. And in Tunisia, which inspired Egypt's uprising, hundreds demonstrated to cheer Mr. Mubarak's ouster.