By Marwa Awad and Shaimaa Fayed
CAIRO (Reuters) - Some Egyptian workers ignored a call by military rulers to return to work on Wednesday, and a committee hammered out constitutional changes to pave the way for democracy after 30 years of Hosni Mubarak's iron rule.
The Higher Military Council had urged Egyptians to put aside the revolutionary ardour that has found expression in protests and strikes about poor pay and working conditions, in the interests of national unity and restarting the damaged economy.
Banks are closed across Egypt due to protests and unrest, having a spillover effect across many sectors of the economy, while over 12,000 textile workers went on strike in the city of Mahalla el-Kubra and industrial action also hit Cairo airport.
Motivated by uprisings in Egypt and in Tunisia, hundreds of people, angry at the arrest of a rights campaigner, clashed with police and government supporters n the Libyan city of Benghazi. There have also been clashes in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen.
"The ripple effect of the Egyptian revolution is shaking Middle Eastern dictators to their foundation," said Fawaz Gerges, a London School of Economics Middle East expert.
FRENZY OF RUMOUR
There was a frenzy of rumour about the health of Mubarak, 82, who is holed up at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after flying from his Cairo palace. In one of his final addresses, Mubarak said he wanted to die in Egypt.
One Saudi official in Riyadh said: "He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave. Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm." The official added that Saudi Arabia had offered to be his host.
Life was far from normal five days after Mubarak was forced from power by a whirlwind 18-day uprising, with troops and tanks on the streets of Cairo, schools and banks closed and Egyptians still finding their new found freedom hard to believe.
A committee, set up to amend the constitution within 10 days as a prelude to parliamentary and presidential elections in six months, also met as the military dismantles the mechanisms used to maintain Mubarak's rule. The Higher Military Council has already dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution.
Members of the newly formed 19-person pro-democracy Council of Trustees of the Revolution appeared at a news conference in downtown Cairo to say its main aim was to unite ranks, protect the revolution and open a dialogue with the military.
"There will be attempts to abort it and divert it, so we must be on the alert," said council member Hassan Nafaa.
Another member, Mohamed el-Beltagi, said: "There has to a ... new cabinet without symbols of the corrupt regime, completely separate from the old regime. That era is over and we cannot allow it to be reborn."
WASHINGTON SUSPICIONS
The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which did not play a leading role in the revolution but has been Egypt's best-organised opposition group for many years, has a member on the committee drawing up the constitutional amendments.
"They have their traditional fear of the military, their traditional fear of clashing with the new power," said Diaa Rashwan, an analyst and an expert on political Islam.
Some secular leaders fear that racing into presidential and parliamentary elections in a nation where Mubarak suppressed most opposition activity for 30 years may hand an edge to the well-organised Muslim Brotherhood, banned under Mubarak.
Washington, a major aid donor to Egypt which became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel in a 1979 treaty, regards the Brotherhood with suspicion.
"I would assess that they are not in favour of the treaty," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. But the Brotherhood was "only one voice in the emerging political milieu," Clapper said.
Opposition leaders welcomed the military's commitment to a swift handover to civilian rule, but called for the release of political prisoners and the lifting of emergency laws.
Pro-democracy leaders plan a "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution, and perhaps remind the military of the power of the street.
With no clear leadership, the youth movement that was pivotal to the revolution due to its use of social networking sites to organise protests, is seeking to overcome divisions and expects to announce a new political party on Thursday.
Uncertainty remains over how much influence the military, which receives $1.3 billion a year in U.S. aid, will try to exert in reshaping a corrupt and oppressive ruling system which it has propped up for six decades.
"INCALCULABLE VALUE"
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military aid was of "incalculable value," helping Egypt's armed forces to become a capable, professional body.
"Changes to those relationships ... ought to be considered only with an abundance of caution and a thorough appreciation for the long view, rather than in the flush of public passion and the urgency to save a buck," he said.
Egypt's military, which Mullen has praised for a peaceful handover of power, had hoped tens of thousands would heed its appeal to get back to work on Wednesday and abandon the strikes and protests that flared after the downfall of Mubarak.
But emboldened unions are still pressing their demands. Facing a rash of pent-up labour demands from groups ranging from bank staff and tour guides to policemen and steelworkers, the military has urged people not to disrupt an economy already damaged by the revolution.
Workers cite a series of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.
Tuesday was a national holiday to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad so for many sectors Wednesday was the first work day since the military's appeal.
(Reporting by Marwa Awad, Edmund Blair, Alexander Dziadosz, Shaimaa Fayed, Andrew Hammond, Alistair Lyon, Sherine El Madany, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Tom Pfeiffer, William Maclean, Patrick Werr, Jonathan Wright, Dina Zayed and Amena Bakr in Saudi Arabia; Writing by Peter Millership; Editing by David Stamp)
