A planned day of civil disobedience and strikes against Egypt’s military rulers yesterday to mark a year since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow saw only a small turnout, but activists still pledged further protests.

There is no difference between the military council and Mubarak- protester

The call for strikes in universities and work places came after a series of protests pressuring the military to transfer power immediately to civilians, rather than wait for presidential elections later this year.

Strikes in the main universities attracted relatively small numbers throughout the day.

“I’m on strike because of the dire situation in the country. There is no difference between the military council and Mubarak. We want them to leave now,” said Mahmud Magdy from outside Cairo’s Ain Shams university.

In Cairo University, roughly 100 students gathered outside a main hall, chanting “down with military rule” and “students and workers against oppression and exploitation.”

State television said transport workers would not strike, and the state-owned daily Al-Ahram headlined: “The people reject civil disobedience.”

One Cairo factory owner told AFP: “We have not noticed the effect of the calls for strike because we had already planned to reduce production today due to low activity.”

Fayza Abul Naga, international cooperation minister in the military-appointed cabinet, said the low turnout showed “Egyptians from all sectors rejected the call for civil disobedience,” the official MENA news agency reported.

She said that reports she received indicated there were no strikes in work places.

Alaa Abdel Fattah, a prominent activist jailed by the military for two months for allegedly inciting violence against soldiers, said the strikes were meant to deliver a message to Egyptians.

They were aimed at “supporting and propagating the idea of civil disobedience,” he told AFP, adding that activists planned to coordinate with workers over further strikes.

The military, headed by Mubarak’s long-time defence minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, had said it would deploy additional troops in response to the call for a day of disobedience.

On Friday, thousands of protesters snaked through Cairo to bypass military cordons and reach the defence ministry, chanting: “Down with military rule!”

But in a statement on state television late on Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said it would not bow to threats or “plots.”

“We will never yield to threats, and we will never give in to pressure,” the SCAF said.

“We tell you quite frankly that our dear Egypt faces plans aimed at striking at the heart of our revolution.

“We are facing plots against the nation aiming to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state, and to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns.”

The military, which has bloodily crushed several protests in the past year, has played on the widespread suspicion in Egypt of foreign conspiracies.

Secular youth groups that spearheaded the revolt against Mubarak also took part in yesterday’s strike.

On Friday, the groups had urged Egyptians “to support these strikes in order to end the unjust rule and build a nation in which justice, freedom and dignity prevail.”

The call for strikes and protests divided Egypt’s political forces, with the Muslim Brotherhood – the big winner in parliamentary elections – coming out against it.

Many Egyptians complain that the economy has been battered by the lack of security and deadly violence in the wake of the 18-day revolt that forced Mubarak to resign on February 11 last year.

Protests against the military, idolised immediately after the revolt for not siding with Mubarak, have heightened fears among many that the Arab world’s most populous nation could descend into chaos.

The military issued a similar warning, saying on Friday the nation was at “the most dangerous turning point on our road to liberty, democracy and social justice.”

Young activists who spearheaded the revolt against Mubarak believe the generals will try to exercise power through a pliant civilian government after presidential elections set to take place before end June.

The activists say the military should hand power to parliament, elected over a three-round election in November and December, or to a civilian council ahead of presidential polls. The SCAF statement said it was determined to transfer power to an elected civilian body.

“Presidential power will pass to the president of the republic after the election ending the period of transition, and your faithful army will revert to its original role,” it said.