By Agencies

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Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered for marches across the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to mark the first anniversary of the "Friday of Rage", a key day in the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak last year.

Demonstrators began to converge in the capital's Tahrir Square, the focal point of protests, after Muslim noon prayers, on a day dubbed the "Friday of Pride and Dignity" by the dozens of pro-democracy groups organising the rallies.
 
"Down with military rule!", shouted demonstrators, who waved flags and banners and chanted slogans against the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF).

On last year's "Friday of Rage", Mubarak's security forces fired on protesters who marched into the square, killing and wounding hundreds. Mubarak is currently on trial in Cairo, facing charges of involvement in the killing of protesters.
 
In Tahrir on Friday, Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the imam of the Omar Makram mosque located within the square, called for faster retribution for the deaths of protesters last year.
 
"People came out on January 25, 2011, to call for freedom, justice, dignity and the end of a regime that spread all forms of corruption," Shahin told the crowd, referencing the date of the start of the uprising.
 
"We demanded the resignation of the regime, but after a year passed on the revolution, I'm asking; did the regime
actually resign?" Shahin said.

"The revolution is continuous, we need a swifter purge of media and political trials for those who killed the protesters. I'm supporting you."
 
Divided on message
 
However, Islamists and liberal, secular-leaning protesters appeared to be divided over the message they were trying to send on Friday.
 
The powerful Muslim Brotherhood, which swept the majority of seats in recently concluded elections for the new lower house of parliament with its Freedom and Justice Party, occupied a part of the square where the mood was celebratory.

Muslim Brotherhood supporters and others note that the military council, which took over after Mubarak stepped down, has pledged to hand over power to civilian rule after presidential elections by late June.
 
On the other side of Tahrir, the chants were strongly anti-military.

"None of the goals of the revolution have been achieved. What are they celebrating for? Because they won seats in parliament?," Fahd Ibrahim, an anti-military protester, told the AFP news agency in reference to the Islamists.
 
But a Muslim Brotherhood member said that both sides want the same thing. "We are here to mark one year since January 25. We also want to push for the goals of the revolution," Essam Elsawy told AFP. "We want the same thing. But each is taking a different route."
 
Travel restrictions
 
As the events to mark the anniversary of the 18-day uprising continued, the US state department called on Egypt to lift travel restrictions on several Americans working for non-governmental organisations (NGO), many of whom were in Egypt to monitor recent elections.
 
Washington asked SCAF to stop "endangering American lives" after six Americans working for publicly funded US organisations were barred from leaving the country.

"We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible," Victoria Nuland, a state department spokeswoman, said on Thursday.
 
"We are trying to get them free to travel as soon as possible, and we're hopeful that we can resolve this in coming days," she said.
 
'Dire economic situation'
 
Among those hit by travel bans is Sam LaHood, a son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the US-funded NGOs, International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organisations said.
 
The travel ban was part of an Egyptian criminal investigation into foreign-funded democracy organisations after soldiers raided the offices of 10 such groups last month, including those of two American groups.
 
Washington has indicated it may review the $1.3bn it gives the Egyptian military each year if the probe into alleged breaches of local regulations went on.