Egypt crisis talks fall at first fence

Talks between Egypt's vice-president and opposition groups aimed at ending the 13-day-old crisis have collapsed.

Omar Suleiman met the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and other protesters for the first time and offered major concessions, including granting press freedom and limiting police powers.

But the opposition held firm to its main demand, that President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately. Leaders of the thousands of demonstrators who still occupy Cairo's main square said they were not represented at yesterday's talks.

"None of those who attended represent us," said Khaled Abdul-Hamid, a leader of a new coalition representing at least five youth movements that organised the protests. "We are determined to press on until our number one demand is met. The regime is retreating," he said. "It is making more concessions every day." There were signs that the paralysis gripping the country was easing.

Some schools reopened for the first time in more than a week and so did banks although for only three hours, with long queues outside. Many Egyptians have been unable to access their bank accounts and cash machines rapidly emptied or were attacked by looters. Employers said they could not pay salaries and food prices soared.

The Central Bank dispatched £5billion to banks across the country, flying in the money on military transport planes, to make sure there would be enough to go around. The stock exchange remained closed.

A night curfew remained in place, and tanks continued to ring the Tahrir Square and guard government buildings. "It's much better than yesterday or the day before. Ordinary people are back out walking around and look, we even have a traffic jam," said Ahmed Mohammed, 65, the owner of a men's clothes shop in the district of Mohandiseen.

President Barack Obama said on TV that Egypt "will not go back to what it was", adding that it was clear Egyptians want free and fair elections.

He played down prospects that the Muslim Brotherhood would take a major role in a new government. "I think that the Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt," Mr Obama said. "They don't have majority support."

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, said that if Mr Mubarak resigned immediately Egypt's constitution would require an election in 60 days, which even some Mubarak opponents have said would not allow enough time to organise a credible vote.

"I think Mubarak will have to stop being stubborn by the end of this week because the country cannot take more million-strong protests," said Muslim Brotherhood representative Essam el-Erian.

The Brotherhood, which wants an Islamic state in Egypt, won 20 per cent of parliament's seats in 2005 by fielding candidates as independents but thousands of its members have been arrested in the past decade.