CAIRO/WASHINGTON: Several thousand Egyptians marched to Cairo’s Tahrir Square Friday ahead of the one year anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, demanding justice and retribution for those killed in clashes with security forces. Activists have organized the demonstrations as part of a week of “mourning and anger” around the Jan. 25 anniversary to rally support for their call to end military rule. They say the generals who took power after Mubarak’s fall have continued the policies of the toppled regime.

The military has tried to counter what some protesters have dubbed “the second revolution” by using state-run media to accuse protesters of receiving foreign funding to destabilize Egypt. While many Egyptians support the military and believe it is the only entity able to run the country until presidential elections slated before the end of June, activists say that the ruling generals, led by Mubarak’s defense minister of 20 years, field marshal Hussein Tantawi, have continued the policies of the toppled regime and are trying to derail the democratic process.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Tantawi Friday, to stress the need for a democratic transition despite recent bouts of violence and Egypt’s pending IMF loan.

The White House said that Obama argued it was vital for civil society and non-governmental organizations to be allowed to operate freely in Egypt’s new political structures and also discussed regional security issues.

“[Obama] welcomed the historic seating of the lower house of Egypt’s parliament and offered his congratulations to the Egyptian people on taking this important step toward democracy,” a White House statement said.

Demonstrators in Cairo set out from different neighborhoods in the city of some 18 million people and descended on Tahrir Square, which served as the epicenter of the 18 days of protests that pushed Mubarak from power on Feb. 11.

The head of the Muslim Brotherhood, set to be the biggest party in Egypt’s new freely elected parliament, said the interim military rulers would be held accountable after handing power to civilians for any mistakes made during their time at the helm.

Mohammad Badie said in an interview with private Egyptian channel Dream TV it was time to work through the institutions of state and not to make an enemy of the army through the repeated protests organized by youth groups opposed to military rule, but rejected comparisons between the military council and what he described as Mubarak’s corrupt regime.

“We say that we respect and appreciate the army but the military council must be held accountable for any mistakes ... No one is above accountability,” Badie said.

But 24-year-old protester Shaimaa Zein held a sign in Tahrir demanding the military be held accountable for the deaths of 100 people who have been killed in clashes with security forces since the generals took over from Mubarak.

“When we went down on Jan. 25, people were against us at first and then they called us the generation that broke barriers when Mubarak resigned,” she said. “But the dictatorship is the same.”

Women also marched through central Cairo demanding Egypt’s ruling military step down in a continued show of outrage against soldiers who dragged women by the hair and stomped on them last month.

One protester in Tahrir carried a poster depicting the former president with a noose around his neck, echoing a demand by some that Mubarak be executed for the deaths of more than 800 protesters.

Mubarak, his ex-security chief Habib al-Adly and four top security officers are charged with complicity in the killings of the protesters, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Activists say that court officials have been lax with police officers accused of shootings during the uprising, allowing many to stay on the job while facing murder charges and setting others free on bail.

Only one policeman has been convicted over the deaths of at least 846 people killed in the government crackdown on protesters.