(Newser)
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Once again, thousands of Egyptians are protesting in Tahrir Square, this time against the military's power grab following the country's first free presidential election. Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters chanted, "Down with military rule," and are expected to be joined by secular groups later today. But Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi and rival Ahmed Shafiq are still accusing one another of stealing the election, Reuters notes, and al-Jazeera reports that final results—which were delayed this week—may not be announced until the weekend.
"These protests in the squares, the campaigns of terror, and the media manipulation are all attempts to force the election committee to announce a particular result," Shafiq declared to gathered supporters in a televised address. Meanwhile, Morsi supporters—both Islamists and the more secular, liberal protesters—fear the military is attempting to use the delay to swing the election in Shafiq's favor and thus avoid a true democracy. The military council blames the Muslim Brotherhood for the uproar and confusion, the AP reports; it accuses the group of raising tensions by announcing the election results early, before an official statement was made. The military is set to issue a statement this afternoon, but state television gave no further details.
