Egypt military pledges to speed up power transfer

Egypt’s military rulers have agreed to speed up presidential elections, a key demand of protesters packing Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said on national TV they would happen by July 2012.

He said he had accepted the resignation of the cabinet and that parliamentary elections next week would go ahead.

It follows days of protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square over the pace of reform.

Tens of thousands of people continued to pack Tahrir Square on Tuesday evening.

Marco Werman gets the latest from The World’s Matthew Bell who heard from Egyptian human rights activists and journalists why they think their country’s military hasn’t engaged in reform, and has lost the trust of citizens.