© AFP/File Khaled Desouki

CAIRO (AFP) - (AFP) - Egypt's military, which faces growing condemnation for cracking down on critics, on Wednesday sentenced two men to six months in prison each for chanting anti-military slogans, a prosecution official said.

One of the men, 18-year-old activist Hassan Said, was arrested in a central Cairo square on August 2, a day after soldiers and police violently dispersed a weeks-long sit in by activists demanding a civilian government.

The second man was named as 23-year-old Karim Sayid but no further details about when he was arrested were available.

The military, in power since a popular revolt ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, has promised to hand over government to civilians after a yet unscheduled presidential election.

A growing chorus of rights groups have condemned it for prosecuting activists over such charges as insulting the ruling generals.

They say the military is not impartial in judging these cases, because it is also the plaintiff. The charges may lead to sentences of up to three years in prison.

The military this week decided to try an activist and blogger who posted a widely popular appeal to Egyptians to rise up against Mubarak days before the January 25 revolt.

Asmaa Mahfouz, who has become a vocal critic of the military, is charged with insulting the military on the Internet, in a step the New York-based Human Rights Watch described as an "escalation" against military opponents.