Thousands of Egyptians flocked the streets of downtown Cairo, scoffing at embattled President Hosni Mubarak's cabinet reshuffle and calling for a 'march of a million' to demand his ouster, even as the Army said it would not use force against its countrymen.
Mubarak sacked his much-hated interior minister on Monday in a revamped cabinet and appointed a new intelligence chief to mollify opposition groups, but the protesters remained unmoved and stated that they would accept nothing less than his departure.
The protesters, however, gave the President a Friday ultimatum to quit, and called for a show of strength on Tuesday.
Earlier, Habib al-Adly, widely despised by Egyptians was axed and replaced as interior minister by Mahmud Wagdi, a police general and former head of criminal investigations department. Also axed were the finance and culture ministers.
Mubarak, 82, facing the first serious challenge to his 30-year-rule, also appointed top general Murad Mowafi, a former north Sinai governor, as the new intelligence chief.
Mowafi takes over charge from Omar Suleiman who has been appointed Vice President.
The main opposition group Muslim Brotherhood rejected the new team dominated by regime veterans, and called for continued protests to ensure the fall of the crumbling regime.
Stepping up their campaign, a coalition of opposition groups called a general strike and hoped to put up a massive show of strength on Tuesday to force Mubarak to leave the country by Friday.
The coalition, including the outlawed Brotherhood, served an ultimatum, telling the powerful army to choose between "Egypt or Mubarak". The death toll in seven days of violence has crossed 150 already.
The Army made clear in a statement later that it will not use force against the Egyptian people, and said it recognises "the legitimacy of the people's demands".
The statement made on state TV by a military spokesperson, which said the Army would guarantee "freedom of expression", is bound to give a boost to the protesters.
Anti-Mubarak sentiments reached a feverish pitch, as thousands converged on Tahrir or Liberation Square -- the hub of the protests in the heart of Cairo -- to make the call for a "million man march" on Tuesday.
The protesters waved placards "Down with Mubarak" as they defied assembled tanks and armoured carriers backing heavily-armed contingents of Army, police and secret police.
The call by the so called 'April 6 Shabab Movement' came as an indefinite countrywide strike gripped the nation, paralysing all essential services, including government offices, banks and trading centres.
As the oust Mubarak campaign gained momentum, world leaders ramped up pressure calling for an-orderly transition in the violence-rocked country.
The 'Shabab' movement, which has been formed of all opposition groups and leaders, declared that the march would start from Tahrir Square, and was aimed at forcing Mubarak to step down by Friday.
The opposition also enforced a countrywide general strike on Monday with most of major Egyptian cities, including the capital Cairo, Alexandria observing a total shutdown.
As the situation in Egypt appeared to be spiralling out of control, the White House called for free and fair elections in the country, but again stopped short of asking America's staunch ally Mubarak to go.
As the confrontation between the protesters and the embattled President entered what appeared to be a decisive stage, thousands of foreigners began a beeline to leave the country, with nations scrambling to send planes to fly their citizens out of Cairo's international airport,
On his part, the defiant Mubarak ordered his new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to move quickly to bring in political, legislative and constitutional reforms.
His directions to Shafiq in a letter were read out on state TV but had no discernible effect on protesters who vowed to continue their demonstrations until Mubarak steps down.
The new PM ordered the police and military back onto the streets as fears of insecurity were rising with many convicts fleeing jails after overwhelming guards.
All trains have been cancelled after organisers of a week of anti-regime protests said they would organise a 'march of a million' to get Mubarak to quit, state television said.
Several petrol stations ran out of fuel and ATMs in the upmarket areas were looted or were not working.
The protests broke out last Tuesday giving vent to peoples' anger over three decades of repression, rampant corruption, lack of democracy and good governance.
As the focus shifted on the influential army for a smooth transition of power, protesters enforced a countrywide general strike.
Pro-democracy activist and Nobel Laureate Mohammad ElBaradei, who defied house arrest to join the protesters at Tahrir Square, asked Mubarak to "step down today itself."
"It is loud and clear from everybody in Egypt that Mubarak has to leave today," ElBaradei said in an interview aired on CNN.
"He needs to leave today... to be followed by a smooth transition (to) a national unity government to be followed by all the measures set in place for a free and fair election."
Army positioned tanks around the square and were checking the identity papers, but were letting protesters in.
China and Canada began evacuating their citizens from Egypt while Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feared the establishment of an Iran-style regime in the country.
In Egypt, however, the ranks of protesters continued to swell, and judges and scholars from world's prestigious Islamic seminary Al-Azhar also joining the mass protests.
France 24 Television channel quoted a senior US official as saying that President Barack Obama's national security aides believe "Mubarak's time had passed".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an "orderly transition" to democracy in Egypt, saying the legitimate grievances of the people will have to be addressed. Six foreign journalists of Qatar-based al-Jazeera channel were arrested after authorities ordered the shutdown of the network that provided extensive coverage of the uprising.
With incidents of looting and arson being reported in the capital, soldiers detained 50 men who were attempting to break into Egypt's National Museum to loot valuable antiquities.
Troops kept a vigil at the centre housing some of Egypt's valuable national treasuries as concerns grew that precious artifacts might be stolen amidst increasing lawlessness.
In a desperate move to cling to power, Mubarak on Sunday visited the military headquarters and met the newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman and top commanders after which more troops and armoured vehicles moved on to the streets.
Meanwhile, the authorities claimed that the turmoil in the country had not affected the passage of traffic through the famous Suez Canal.
The Canal, the strategic waterway that connects Europe to Asia, is functioning at "full capacity", a canal official told state media, as oil prices soared on fears supplies could be disrupted by the turmoil in Egypt.
Egypt's national air carrier Egyptair meanwhile said that it abide by the curfew timings, and announced cancellation of all its domestic and international flights during the curfew hours.
