Tahrir Preacher Calls for Egypt Power Transfer

The imam leading tens of thousands of worshippers in prayer at Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday called on the ruling military to hand power to a national salvation government.

Sheikh Mazhar Shahin said protesters would remain in the square -- the symbolic heart of rallies that toppled President Hosni Mubarak -- until their demands were met.

He called for the creation of a national salvation government to take over from the military council in charge of the country since Mubarak was toppled in February.

"There is no option but a national salvation government with the powers of a president."

The charismatic Shahin, nicknamed the "preacher of the revolution" after leading prayers throughout the January-February revolt that ousted Mubarak, said the revolution should drive Egypt's political future.

"The revolution is the one that thinks, the revolution is the one that decides, it is the one that judges," Shahin said. "Our revolution was a body without a head. Today, the revolution will have a head."

Former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief and presidential hopeful Mohamed el-Baradei, whose name has been widely touted to be part of the salvation government, joined the protesters in the square.

As soon as prayers were over, dozens of protesters swarmed around el-Baradei chanting "the people want the downfall of the field marshal," in reference to Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's longtime defense minister now running the country.

The Friday protest capped a week of mass anti-military rallies and deadly clashes between police and demonstrators that left at least 41 people dead and over 3,000 injured.