Egypt Military apologises for protest deaths

Egypt's ruling military has apologised for the deaths of about 38 protesters in clashes with police, as protests continue in Cairo and other cities.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) said it regretted "the deaths of martyrs from among Egypt's loyal sons".
The violence, which began on Saturday, is the worst since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.
Scaf also said elections would start as scheduled on Monday. There had been speculation that they might be delayed.
In an announcement on Thursday, council member Maj Gen Mukhtar al-Mouallah said the parliamentary elections would be held on schedule. A presidential poll is to take place by June next year.
He said those responsible for deaths and injuries would be held to account, and that protesters arrested since Saturday would be released immediately.
Compensation would be paid to the families of the dead, Gen Mouallah added.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
For some days, doctors and protesters have claimed that a new type of tear gas, or nerve agent, is being used against demonstrators.
One theory is that security forces have been using CR gas, or CN gas, much stronger than the usual CS gas, commonly known as tear gas. CR gas is banned in the US because it can cause cancer.
So far no evidence has been produced to back up that claim.
On Tahrir Square, protesters regularly assail you with used cans of tear gas, complaining they are made in the United States.
None of the cans we saw had evidence they were the more poisonous CR or CN gas.
What is certainly true is that tear gas is being used in much greater quantities than earlier this year, over a prolonged period of time, within the relatively narrow confines of one street on the edge of the square.
In a city prone at the best of times to be rapidly swept by rumours, that seems to be the only firm fact that can be definitively established in this story at the moment.
Late on Wednesday, two members of the council appeared on state TV to offer "condolences to the entire Egyptian people".
One of them, Maj Gen Muhammad al-Assar, extended "the regret and apology of the entire armed forces on the tragedy that occurred".
He added: "Our hearts bled for what happened. We hope that this crisis will end and, God willing, it will not be repeated again."
The generals urged Egyptians not to compare them to the former regime of Mr Mubarak, insisting they were not seeking to cling to power.
The generals' tone was completely different from the fairly confrontational address by the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, public opinion is divided on the forthcoming parliamentary elections, writes the BBC's Jeremy Bowen.
Some Egyptians want them to go ahead unhindered, while others believe the military must be swept from power first.
The main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is not supporting the protests and expects to do well in the elections.
Witnesses said that two groups were chanting against other in Tahrir Square on Thursday - one saying "Muslim Brotherhood, we don't want you in the square" and the other responding with a call for unity.
Street battles continued late into Wednesday night. They were heaviest around the fortified interior ministry off Tahrir Square in Cairo.