By Jailan Zayan
FRANCE PRESS
Cairo: Hundreds of Islamist and secular protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday for a mass rally to press the ruling military to hand power to a civilian government.
As legislative elections draw near -- the first polls since a popular uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak-- protesters are demanding more control over the constitution the new parliament is to draft.
They want the withdrawal of a government document that proposes supra constitutional principles, which could see the ruling military's budget shielded from public scrutiny.

While the Friday protest will group different political stripes under different banners, the unifying call is for the military to hand power to a civilian government as soon as possible.
The protest is due to officially start after the noon Muslim prayers, but the early morning crowds point to a large turnout.

The powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party have led the call for the protest.
Liberal, leftist and other Islamist parties have said they will participate in the rally, as well as pro-democracy movements that launched the January 25 uprising.

The contested government document, presented by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Silmi, drew fire from most quarters for including clauses that removed the military's budget from parliamentary oversight and allowed the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) a final say on military-related matters.

The government revised the draft but Islamists, who organised a mass protest in July against such a charter, have rejected the very idea of a document that would limit parliament's authority to draft the constitution, branding the articles as undemocratic.
The Brotherhood, through its Freedom and Justice Party, may emerge as the largest bloc in the election, the first since an uprising ousted Mubarak in February.

The SCAF, which took charge after Mubarak's ouster and suspended the constitution and parliament, says it will hand over power once a new president is elected.
Parliamentary elections will start on November 28 and are expected to end in March.

Friday's demonstration comes a day after 25 were injured when a Coptic Christian march came under attack by assailants throwing stones and bottles.
The Copts were marching to demand justice for the Christian victims of a clash with soliders in October that left at least 25 people dead, most of them Christian.

A security official told AFP that supporters of an Islamist election candidate in the northern neighbourhood of Shoubra joined in the attack on the Copts.
Copts, who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, complain of discrimination in the Muslim-majority country.

There has been a spike in sectarian clashes since Mubarak was toppled in February.
The deadliest took place on October 9, when thousands of Christians protesting an attack on a church clashed with soldiers.
Witnesses said the soldiers fired on the demonstrators and ran them over with military vehicles, which the military denies.
The military said a number of soldiers were killed in the clash.