Egyptians Mark Anniversary of Revolt in Tahrir Square Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images Tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday. CAIRO - Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square, the crucible of their revolution, on Wednesday in a mixture of celebration and agitation to mark the first anniversary of the protests that forced out Hosni Mubarak, the former president. By mid-morning, tens of thousands of people had packed the square, smiling, cheering and waving Egyptian flags, it was already evident that the spirit that unified last year's uprising had been replaced by new tensions between Egyptian political factions over their view of the military rulers who took power when Mr. Mubarak was ousted. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that won nearly half the seats in the newly elected Parliament, sent many of its followers to the square. The Brotherhood's leaders have endorsed the military's timetable for a handover to an elected president by the end of June, and they sent thousands of their members out to ensure that a spirit of celebration prevailed, erecting soundstages and setting up security checks at each entrance to the square. An abundance of Brotherhood flags, buttons and disposable plastic hats filled the crowd. There were reports that Brotherhood followers had drowned out chants attacking the ruling military council with their own tributes to the revolution. Groups of ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafis, political rivals to the Brotherhood who won about a quarter of the seats in the new Parliament, said they would also turn out to help secure the square and keep the day peaceful, and there were plenty of men with the Salafis" trademark long beards mingling in the crowd. The crowd in the square on Wednesday morning was overwhelmingly male, with very women in sight. Youth groups and other activists - including many of the leaders of the original uprising - were determined to make the day a huge demonstration calling for an immediate end to military rule, urging Egyptians to gather at mosques, churches and other strategic locations around the city for marches to the square that would arrive by mid-afternoon. The plan resembled the convergence of marches that set off the Tahrir Square protests last January, but this time each was named for a "martyr" killed over the last year by the security forces of the military-led government trying to suppress challenges to its power. More than 80 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since October. The military rulers have endorsed the calls for an anniversary celebration and have made the day a national holiday. Some activists accuse them of attempting to co-opt the occasion. There was no visible presence of soldiers or police. But most Egyptians seemed to expect that Brotherhood members, known for their discipline and organization, would keep the peace. After a year of protests and crackdowns, many note a pattern: the conflicts with security forces never begin on the days when crowds fill the streets but only days later when the authorities move in to clear out the stragglers. One year after the tumultuous events that marked a watershed in the so-called Arab Spring, Egypt is still under martial law with the ruling military council acting as the highest authority. Mr. Mubarak's ouster came on Feb. 11, 2011, after an 18-day-old revolt led largely young people prevailed over an authoritarian crackdown. On that day, shouts of "God is great" erupted from Tahrir Square at twilight as Mr. Mubarak's vice president and longtime intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, announced that Mr. Mubarak had passed all authority to a council of military leaders. On the eve of Wednesday's celebrations, the army officer acting as Egypt's de facto head of state said Tuesday that the military government would limit its use of extrajudicial arrests and detentions to cases of what he called "thuggery." The officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, made the pledge to curb use of Egypt's so-called "emergency law" in an apparent attempt to mollify those who are discontent with the heavy-handed police tactics of the military-led government. Just a few years ago, Mr. Mubarak himself issued a similar partial repeal of the "emergency law," saying he would limit its application to cases of drug crimes or terrorism. But his declaration had no discernible effect and it is unclear who or what might restrain the current military leadership from continuing or renewing the use of extralegal detentions. The former president has been on trial since August, facing charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters. Last week, lawyers acting for him began laying out their defense. Mr. Mubarak's chief lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, citing previous testimony by Mr. Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, that Mr. Mubarak had instructed the police to use only nonlethal weapons like tear gas, water cannons and nightsticks in battling the protests last year that ultimately ended his rule. Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris.