Egyptians massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square today just hours after military police and soldiers had cleared the last pro-democracy activists from the area, witnesses said.
The army had appeared to be in full control of the square, heart of the protests that toppled president Hosni Mubarak. Then hundreds of police marched through, unhindered by troops, saying they wanted to show solidarity with the revolution.
The police protesters and thousands of onlookers around them disrupted traffic which had begun flowing at the weekend.
The police marchers joined a growing wave of protests and strikes as Egyptians used their new-found freedom to vent their anger at the country's political system.
At the height of the protests more than 250,000 pro-democracy protesters had packed the square and earlier today troops had forced the last dozen or so to leave.
"We are with the people. We ask the people of Egypt not to ostracise us," Lieutenant Mohammed Mestekawy said, as scuffles broke out between the marchers and people angry at them for trying to "steal or co-opt the people's revolution".
"I do not believe them. Where were they when my brother was killed by thugs?" cried Samah Hassan, who picked a fight with one officer as the marchers headed to the interior ministry.
"They are free riders. They want to claim the revolution for themselves. They are agents," he shouted.
Pro-democracy leaders say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a huge "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution, and perhaps to remind the military of the power of the street.
Egypt's generals, who played an important role in the anti-Mubarak revolt by making no effort to crush it, are asserting their control following Mubarak's overthrow and trying to get life and the damaged economy back to normal.
Disgruntled employees today were demonstrating and striking in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for better deals.
In a sign of nervousness, Egypt's stock exchange, closed since January 27th because of the turmoil, said it would remain shut until stability returned to the economy, an official said.
The interim military rulers called a bank holiday today after disruption in the banking sector and there is a national holiday tomorrow to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.
Having suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament yesterday, moves welcomed by those who saw both as tailored to reinforcing Mubarak's iron rule, the military council was planning to issue orders intended to stifle disruption and get the country back on its feet, a military source said.
Free and fair elections will be held under a revised constitution, the military said, but it gave no timetable beyond saying it would be in charge "for a temporary period of six months or until the end of elections to the upper and lower houses of parliament, and presidential elections".
Political analysts were beginning to ask how long the process of amending the constitution, having a referendum on it and then holding elections would all take.
As the "Revolution on the Nile" sent shock waves around the Middle East, Algeria said today a 19-year-old state of emergency there would be lifted in days, brushing off concerns that recent protests could escalate as in Tunisia and Egypt.
Egypt's army said it would lift its own hated state of emergency, implemented after the assassination of Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat by Islamist soldiers and kept in place by Mubarak to stifle dissent, but has not specified a timetable which has troubled protesters.
The cabinet, appointed by the president last month to try to persuade protesters he was introducing a fresh team to introduce reforms, will go on governing, reporting to the army chiefs.
Any transition to democracy will be fraught with difficulty, and old ways of doing things may die hard in a country where the ruling party routinely rigged elections and candidates used bribery, hired thugs and dirty tricks to ensure victory.
Existing registered parties are mostly small, weak and fragmented. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which under the now suspended constitution could not form a party, may be the best organised group but its true popularity has yet to be tested.
Its strength worries some in the United States, which backed Mubarak, as well as in Israel, for which Mubarak's Egypt was an important ally in a predominantly hostile region.
The army said at the weekend it would uphold Egypt's international obligations. These include its peace treaty with Israel, whose defence minister has been in touch with his Egyptian counterpart, who heads the military council.
Prime minister Ahmed Shafiq said at the weekend that Mubarak was at his villa in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Hundreds of employees demonstrated outside a branch of the Bank of Alexandria in central Cairo today, urging their bosses to "leave, leave", echoing an anti-Mubarak slogan.
At least 500 people demonstrated outside the state television building all calling for higher wages.
Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media organisations, the postal service, railways, the culture ministry and the health ministry.
Workers cite a series of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.
The army, however, is keen to get Egypt working again to restart an economy which was damaged by the momentous events and to bring back tourists and attract foreign investment.
The army source said military authorities were expected to issue an order soon banning meetings by labour unions or professional syndicates, effectively forbidding strikes, and would tell all Egyptians to go back to work.
There would also be a warning from the military against those who created "chaos and disorder", the source said, adding the army would, however, acknowledge the right to protest.
How to handle policing has become a pressing issue.
Interior minister Mahmoud Wagdy has said Egypt needs "the speedy return of the police to duty", saying 13,000 inmates who escaped from prison early in the uprising were still on the run.
The widely loathed police were withdrawn from the streets on January 28th after failing to crush protesters with batons, teargas, rubber bullets and live fire. The army stood by during those confrontations, without helping the protesters or the police.
There have been several police protests as they emerged in the uprising's aftermath. Some complained about wages and others want immunity from prosecution over the policing of the revolt.
"We are here to honour martyrs and the army and Egypt's people," said Lieutenant Abdel-Rahman Shawqi, as marchers and civilians sang the national anthem in Tahrir Square.
Reuters