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Celebrities, football supporters and opposition movements have said they will join the protests, and tens of thousands have said on a Facebook page created to advertise the demonstrations that they will participate.

Protests will kick off at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) at several locations in the capital and across the country, in a day dubbed “the day of revolt against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment.”

The call was first launched by pro-democracy youth group the April 6 movement, to coincide with a national holiday to celebrate Police Day.

Among demands are the ouster of Interior Minster Habib al-Adly, whose police and security forces have been accused of heavy-handedness; the removal of the decades-old emergency law and a rise in minimum wages.

The controversial law, which gives police wide powers of arrest, suspends constitutional rights and curbs non-governmental political activity, was renewed in 2010 for a further two years.

The interior ministry has warned that it would deal “firmly” with all those who behave illegally.-AFP