Mubarak's vice warns against Friday's planned protests in Egypt - Omar Soliman, Vice president to Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak during the revolution, made a rare statement on his Facebook page, warning against Friday's planned mass demonstrations against the interim ruling military council in Egypt.

Soliman, who was also Mubarak's long-serving intelligence chief, said the army was the only guardian of Egypt at this difficult time, adding that even if disagreement appeared with some of the interim rulers' actions, it could be resolved through discussions and not through more million-man marches.

Many of Egypt's political forces have said they will be demonstrating against the military council in Cairo's iconic Tahrir square on Friday.

Led by the influential Muslim Brotherhood, who have been absent from previous marches, Egypt's revolutionary forces are protesting supra-constitutional government proposals that aim to grant the military more sweeping powers.

Islamist forces in particular, that also include Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya and Salafis, are behind the 18 November protest calls, since they believe they will be the best performers in the country's legislative elections, slated to start 28 Nov., wanting to see the democratically elected people's representatives write the country's new constitution, without imposing any supra-constitutional principles.

The Egyptian government insists the proposals are non-binding, saying that talks on amending the proposals with political forces, including Islamists, are progressing.

The Friday gathering, which could be the biggest in the country in months, also aims at shortening the transitional period in Egypt and getting the nation's interim rulers to declare a clearer and more definite timetable for the handing over of power to a democratically elected president and a civilian administration.

Pana 17/11/2011