Egyptians mass again in burst of revolutionary joy

CAIRO (Reuters) - Millions of jubilant Egyptians flooded Cairo's central square Friday, in an historic day of unbridled joy one week after a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak and restored pride to a repressed nation.

A sea of people pressed across bridges spanning the Nile and surged into Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the heart of an 18-day display of people power that shook the Arab world.

"You are Egyptian -- raise your head high," read one banner amid a sea of red, white and black national flags stretching across the square and far down the capital's streets. Horse carriages were back on the streets and their owners have put little Egyptian flag bandannas on their feet.

The end of noon prayers was the cue for a party set to last long into the night. Families sang and danced to pop music that blared from boats bobbing in the Nile, others danced and banged drums on the river's banks.

Young people had painted their faces in the national colors and sang the national anthem. One woman wore an "I love Egypt" t-shirt over her traditional Islamic abeya robes.

Some dressed up as Egypt's ancient pharaohs, others released red, white and black balloons that drifted off over the landmark Egyptian Museum.

Some took pictures of the scene near the torched shell of Mubarak's ruling party building or alongside tanks with their families surrounded by beaming young soldiers.

Vendors sold flags, popcorn, soda and snacks to people as they arrived, others wore badges with images of protesters who died in the uprising.

"Photos of the martyrs, just one pound, photos of the martyrs, just one pound," cried one vendor in the crowd.

Gone was the atmosphere of menace that hung over the anti-Mubarak protests, as military police prayed alongside citizens in traditional "galabeya" robes or modern Western dress.

The army tanks guarding Cairo's streets were covered in national flags. Small children clambered over armored vehicles.

FLOWERS AND FLAGS

The sheer scale of the demonstration, not seen since the funeral of revered Egyptian singer Umm Kalthoum in 1975, will remind the army-led interim government of its promise to move quickly to democratic, civilian rule.

"The people want the purification of the regime," chanted the crowd in Tahrir Square, and "Hosni left his palace, so how can his allies run the country?"

One banner read: "For the sake of stability: the police and the people hand in hand against thuggery."

A memorial was set up with photographs of some of the protesters who died, surrounded by flowers and Egyptian flags.

Amid the celebrations, anger at high-level corruption under Mubarak still runs high.

One man held aloft a poster demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq's interim cabinet including Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and "the rest of his gang."

Fahmy and Aboul Gheit kept their posts after the uprising.

Others fearful for the country's suffering tourism industry marched from the state television building toward Tahrir holding banners in foreign languages to support tourism.

Some dragged along an enormous model pyramid and one colorful poster showed people diving in the Red Sea with the words "Hosni is out, Egypt is fun." A banner held by 10 people read: "Visit the land of peace," "Help us rebuild Egypt."

Twenty girls standing on a tank sang a song from a 1970s musical: "Egypt our country is a land for tourists, the foreigners come to have fun."

"We need the tourists to come back. Egypt is free, the fight is far from over but we are ready to rebuild and we need the economy to get rolling again," said hotel worker Mohamed, 35.

Turnout for a separate march to "apologize" to Mubarak and show recognition of his achievements in 30 years of power was far smaller and attended mostly by wealthier-looking Egyptians.

"I wanted what they (anti-Mubarak protesters) asked for, but I also want to pay respect to our former president" said Manal Nakhla, a businesswoman.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad, Dina Zayed and Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)