Egypt's newly appointed Prime Minister Essam Sharaf assured thousands of protesters in Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Friday that he would work to meet the people's demands. He saluted the country's 25 January revolution that ended three decades of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Sharaf, who was cheered by the crowd and carried by protesters to the podium, said he seeks legitimacy from the protesters. The prime minister, who was asked to take an oath in front of the people but did not, said he prayed for Egypt to become free and prayed that he would be up to the responsibilities of his new job. Many of the youth revolutionaries considered Sharaf's visit to Tahrir Square just one day after his appointment as a sign of his accountability to the people and the revolution. Protesters chanted during Sharaf's speech that they still seek a new constitution, the dissolution of state security and the formation of a judiciary committee to replace the attorney general. As people lit fireworks, the army ushered Sharaf out of the area. Sharaf served as minister of transport from July 2004 until December 2005. He returned to academia in 2006 as a professor at Cairo University after resigning as minister following a deadly train accident. Sharaf was appointed by Egypt's military rulers on Thursday to replace Ahmed Shafiq, following sweeping demands from protesters to sack his government, which was primarily appointed by Mubarak.
