REUTERS

CAIRO: Egyptian political groups said Sunday they would suspend demonstrations during Ramadan, which starts Monday, but would resume a campaign for swifter democratic reforms by the ruling army after the Muslim fasting month is over.

Many Egyptians have grown tired of the protests, which have disrupted traffic in city centers. Nerves are often frayed during Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan this year falls during the height of the summer heat.

The groups said they would continue to demand that the army council, which took over after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, speed up reforms and the prosecution of former officials who face corruption and murder charges.
Mubarak’s trial will be held at a police academy in Cairo, with a maximum of 600 people allowed to attend although proceedings will be televised, the presiding judge said Sunday.

A source close to Mubarak, who has been in hospital since April when he was first questioned, said Thursday that the former president’s lawyer would tell the court he was too sick to attend the trial due to start Wednesday.
A Cabinet statement said Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy had received a letter from the public prosecutor calling for Mubarak to be present. If he is absent due to sickness, it could further anger protesters who want a public trial.

Most of the protesting groups were among those who pulled out of a demonstration Friday after accusing Islamist groups of having hijacked the event, which had been organized to send a united message to the army.
The groups’ supporters have been camped out in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other areas around the country since a protest on July 8.

“Several political parties and youth groups have decided to suspend sit-ins throughout the holy month of Ramadan, assuring a return … for peaceful sit-in in Tahrir Square for other demands to be achieved,” 26 groups said in a joint statement distributed by email.
More than 840 people died in the 18-day protest groundswell that overthrew Mubarak. Police used rubber bullets, live ammunition, tear gas and batons against demonstrators.

Many Egyptians have also criticized the way the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, Mohammad Hussein Tantawi, has handled the transition ahead of the country’s first free and fair elections later this year.
Islamists and more liberal groups have diverged on how hard to press the ruling generals for change. They have also been divided over the constitution, which is to be rewritten after a new parliament is elected.
Liberal groups fear the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s best organized group, and other Islamists will dominate the vote.

Friday’s protests by tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir were dominated by chants from Islamists, notably Salafists who follow a particularly strict interpretation of Islam.
The Muslim Brotherhood questioned the decision by other groups to quit Friday’s protest, saying Salafist slogans should not have prompted a withdrawal.