Egypt's new prime minister and vice president have started talks with the Egyptian opposition political forces to overcome the current crisis, state television said on Thursday.
Some opposition parties participating in the rally at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo have agreed to hold a dialogue with the country's authorities, media reports said.
Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appointed a civil aviation minister, Ahmed Shafiq, and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as the new prime minister and vice president, respectively, on Saturday.
Mubarak urged them to start negotiations with the opposition as soon as possible to return the country to peace.
Egypt's leading opposition figure and critic of Mubarak, Mohammed ElBaradei, has refused to hold talks with the government until the veteran president steps down.
The opposition has dismissed a pledge by Mubarak to leave when his term of office ends in September, demanding his immediate resignation.
Anti-government protests broke out in Egypt on January 25. The unrest has already claimed the lives of at least 300 people and injured several thousand.
The leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Italy have condemned violence in Egypt and demanded a swift "transition to a broad-based government" in Cairo.
CAIRO, February 3 (RIA Novosti)
