Egyptians mark revolution anniversary

Thousands of people gathered under rainy skies in Cairo's Liberation Square early Wednesday, exactly one year after the start of the revolution that ousted the Western-backed regime of former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

People in the square held banners and chanted against the country's military leaders. Large stages and dozens of tents were also set up amid cold temperatures.

Egypt's junta, which took over after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, has been the target of mass protests in the country for its refusal to live up to its promise of handing the power over to a civilian government.

On the eve of the first anniversary of the start of the Egyptian revolution, Egypt's military rulers announced a partial lifting of the decades-old state of emergency in the country.

"I have taken a decision to end the state of emergency, in all parts of the country, except in fighting acts of thuggery, starting on the morning of January 25, 2012," the chairman of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said in a televised address on Tuesday.

The move is seen by many as an attempt to bolster public support and ward off major protests against the military authorities.

Egyptians have been living under the emergency law continuously since the assassination of the country's former President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

The controversial law allows Egyptian authorities to ban public gatherings, detain people indefinitely without charge, and put civilians on trial in military courts.