Egyptian protesters have remained in Cairo's Tahrir Square after camping overnight at the site that served as the focal point for protests that toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak.

Scores of people were in the square Thursday, a day after tens of thousands gathered to mark the first anniversary of the uprising against Mr. Mubarak's autocratic rule.

Several pro-democracy groups said Wednesday they would hold a sit-in until Friday when another rally is planned.

Protesters want a new uprising against Egypt's military rulers and have called for them to hand over power to a civilian government.

Egypt's main Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has rejected the push for a new revolution. The Brotherhood supports the military council's timetable for a handover to an elected president by the end of June.

The movement's political arm is one of the main beneficiaries of last year's revolution, winning the largest share of seats in a newly elected lower house of parliament that held its first meeting this week.

The military council led by Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi has made several apparent concessions to reformists in recent days.

It has pardoned about 2,000 prisoners and promised to partially lift the country's 30-year-long state of emergency beginning Wednesday. But, the ruling military said authorities will continue to apply the widely-disliked law in fighting acts of “thuggery.”

The New York-based Human Rights Watch says the exception is an “invitation to continued abuse” and an “insult” to Egyptians calling for a return to the rule of law. It says Egypt's military rulers frequently have described “peaceful” demonstrators as “thugs” and put them on trial in military courts for the offense.

Anti-Mubarak activists began a series of mass protests for political and economic reforms on January 25, 2011. The activists continued protesting in central Cairo for 18 days, defying a deadly police crackdown until Mr. Mubarak ceded control of the government to the military council.