Egypt: Is it really over?

In its statement this afternoon, the mililtary council that is now governing the country stopped well short of signaling a full transition to democracy. The existing cabinet, for one thing, will stay on for now (one exception is Information Minister Anas el-Fiky, who was reportedly arrested trying to flee the country). The military did say it would oversee a return to a elected civilian government, but it also urged Egyptians to cooperate with the police — a despised institution that retains broad, unaccountable powers under Mubarak’s emergency law.

Ahmed Naguib, a spokesman for the core group of organizers in Tahrir Square, said glumly that the military’s statement was “not a good start.” The organizing committee planned to tell people to go home, he said, but would ask the protesters to return to the square every Friday until all of their demands were met. “At least they could have named a new prime minister,” he said.