Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square declared a sit-in on Friday following a rally to reclaim the revolution amid anger over the military rulers' handling of the transition.

Egypt will hold on November 28 its first parliamentary election since an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February, the ruling military announced in a decree in Tuesday.

The country's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, decided that the election would be held "over three rounds staring on November 28," the official MENA news agency reported.

A walkabout in central Cairo by Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi donning civilian clothes has unleashed a torrent of questions about his political intentions.

Tantawi took a stroll in Cairo's Downtown area on Monday night wearing a business suit and with no personal security in tow.

Egyptian fire fighters have managed to control a blaze at the site of a gas pipeline to Israel which was attacked overnight, the official MENA news agency said on Tuesday.

At least three gunmen in a van opened fire on a gas installation before an explosion hit the pipeline near the town of al-Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, witnesses said.

Egypt's security forces said on Sunday they seized anti-aircraft missiles and launchers probably destined for the neighboring Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.

The eight missiles and shoulder-mounted launchers were found in four wooden boxes near the Suez Canal, security officials said, adding the smugglers appeared to have fled moments before security forces arrived.

Lawyers for alleged victims of Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak in his murder trial demanded a new judge on Saturday after military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi testified in court.

Tantawi, who served as defense minister for Mubarak before his overthrow by a popular revolt on February 11, testified behind closed doors.

Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi arrived in court on Saturday to testify at the trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a security official told AFP.

Tantawi, who is the de facto head of state since a popular uprising toppled Mubarak in February, is one of the highest profile witnesses called to testify at the former president's trial.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun noted on Wednesday that the fall of the Syrian regime will not benefit Christians or Muslims, saying that the solution to the crisis lies in change and stability.

He told UPI: “Should the Syrian regime be overthrown, then the Christians and Muslims won’t have any freedom.”

Turkey's top diplomat predicted in an interview published Sunday that his country would form an alliance with a reformed Egypt, creating a new democratic axis of power in the Middle East.

"This is what we want," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told The New York Times.

A Cairo court sentenced former tourism minister Zuheir Garana on Sunday to three years in prison for illegally issuing operating licenses to tourism companies, the state news agency MENA reported.

Garana had been previously convicted in May on different corruption charges to five years in prison.