(Photo courtesy of AlJazeera English via Flickr)

The second week of protests in Cairo's central Tahrir Square drew to a close Monday with no signs of ending as the United States pulled back on their demands for a new democracy in Egypt.

Nearly a week after the Obama administration called for a democratic post-Mubarak regime in Egypt, officials have begun to push a more gradual, transitional plan in line with Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman.

But Suleiman has repeatedly said Egypt is not ready for a democracy, saying that a "culture of democracy" needs to be in place, a view that the White House disputed Monday.

"It's clear that statements like that are not going to be met with any agreement by the people of Egypt because they don't address the very legitimate grievances that we've seen expressed as a result of these protests," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Meanwhile, in Tahrir Square, protests took on a more festive tone as Google Executive Wael Ghonim was released by Egyptian security forces and Egyptian officials revealed a 15 percent pay rise for Government workers early Tuesday.