A Libyan website affiliated with one of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi’s sons said on Friday that the national Congress, under pressure from widespread unrest, has halted its session indefinitely and will take steps to reform the government when it reconvenes.

Egypt’s military announced on national television it had stepped in to “safeguard the country”, effectively seizing control and assuring protesters calling for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster that all their demands would be met.

Protesters and regime supporters skirmished in a second day of rock-throwing battles at a central Cairo square while new lawlessness spread around the city.