One year ago Wednesday, thousands of Egyptian anti-government protesters took to Tahrir Square clashing with police during a Tunisia-inspired demonstration against the 30-year reign of President Hosni Mubarak.

One year later, after the budding Arab Spring, ousted Mubarak stands trial for his handling of those protests with prosecutors and mostly conservative members of the newly elected lower house of Egypt's parliament calling for his execution.

“Who would have thought three weeks later the world would turn upside down,” said former Grass Valley resident Kathy McGuigan of returning to Egypt in early 2011 to find a country immersed in revolution.

McGuigan and her husband, Dan, left Egypt indefinitely in June 2011 after nearly two decades of teaching at Cairo American College.

They feared the worst as anti-government protests turned more violent just before Mubarak announced he would step down. From a vantage point of Hornbrook, Calif., the couple wait and watch developments to see if, maybe, they can return next year.

“We loved living there; I loved the Egyptian people and I want the best for the country,” Kathy McGuigan said. “I want them to have a situation where everybody has representation.”

Since last spring's youth-fueled uprising, the revolutionary movement has fragmented into rival blocs overseen by an all-powerful military council, the Associated Press reported. Tahrir Square itself is a bullet-pocked battleground where a small, perpetual demonstration snarls traffic and chokes downtown Cairo businesses.

Within this mosaic, Islamists have emerged as Egypt's dominant new political force, much to the dismay of liberal protesters, whose Western-style demands sometimes run counter to strict religious teachings, according to the AP.

As the competing groups bicker over parliamentary posts and the ruling Mubarak-era generals wield their authority, revolutionary activists say their dreams of speedy democratic reforms and civil liberties seem as distant as ever.

“They aren't getting the reforms they wanted,” Dan McGuigan said. “They wanted both houses and the presidency elected by now. Instead, the military still has power, safety on the street is not what it was and there is concern from Coptic Christians and women about what is going to happen to them.”

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians thronged major squares across Egypt on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, in rallies that turned into a show of strength by secular groups in their competition with the country's powerful Islamists over demands for an end to military rule, the AP reported.

Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of protests against Mubarak, was transformed into the focal point of the rivalry between revolutionary activists who want to show they can still mobilize the street and the Muslim Brotherhood, who emerged as Egypt's dominant political force after a landslide victory in parliament elections.

“There is a growing discontent,” Dan McGuigan said. “(Today), we may see a lot of people taking to the streets again to re-emphasize they want to see change for the better.”

Liberal blocs were worried that Islamists would turn the event into a victory rally after winning more than 70 percent of parliamentary seats in the first post-Mubarak election, the AP reported.

“It's kind of ironic that the people not involved in the revolution initially are getting the most power,” said Kathy McGuigan.

The military, which declared Jan. 25 a national holiday, had plans for its own commemoration. Plans included a nationwide air show with flyovers by warplanes.

Activists of all backgrounds agree that the revolution remains unfinished as long as the generals are in place, but they argue over how and when to wrest control of the Arab world's most populous nation from the entrenched military brass, notes the Associated Press.

How easily Egypt moves to civilian rule will set the pace for domestic reform and serve as an example — whether good or bad — for other pro-democracy revolts that spread throughout the region last year.

Facing unprecedented public criticism after the recent violence, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces pledged to hand over power to an elected government after presidential polls in June, a sped-up timetable approved by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Islamists are under intense pressure to live up to their campaign promises, and they want to avoid a total system breakdown that could detract from their parliamentary priorities, the Associated Press reported.

At the same time, however, they're resistant to prolonged military rule and members have said bluntly that they'd move to curb the council's broad powers, a swing that would realign them with a key demand of the other revolutionary factions.

Liberals and youth groups are still pushing for an immediate transfer of power to a caretaker government, though so far they haven't been able to draw crowds big enough to imperil the military rulers, Dan McGuigan said.

“We hope the best for them,” he said. “Egyptian people want the same things most Americans want. I'm just not sure they are going to get it.”

To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, e-mail crosacker@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4236.