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Egyptian govt in talks with Muslim Brotherhood

Updated: 2011-02-06 11:08

(Xinhua)

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CAIRO - The Egyptian government is already in talks with Muslim Brotherhood, after the influential opposition group finally agreed to hold dialogues with Vice President Omar Suleiman in a bid to end the country's political turmoil, officials said on Saturday.

In the first dialogue of its kind between the two sides, Suleiman met members of Muslim Brotherhood in the morning, the group's officials confirmed to reporters later in the day, without going into details of the talks.

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An earlier press report quoted a Brotherhood spokesman as saying that there will be talks between the two sides at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) Sunday at the Egyptian cabinet.

The group, which had been rejecting the government's offer for talks, changed its mind after the top executive committee of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, including President Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal Mubarak, resigned on Saturday, the 12th day of Egypt's unrest, which saw fewer protesters in Cairo's downtown Tahrir square.

The resignation of the ruling party leadership was Mubarak's latest move to appease protestors demanding his resignation as president. According to analysts, it erased any chances for Gamal Mubarak to succeed the presidency.

Before the Muslim Brotherhood, two other main Egyptian opposition parties, namely El Wafd and El Tagammu, consented to dialogues with the new cabinet on Saturday, in response to calls from Suleiman.

With the Muslim Brotherhood on board, almost all legal political parties have agreed to dialogue with the government.

Earlier, the group and top opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said that they would not accept any dialogue before the immediate departure of Mubarak.

Mubarak announced on Tuesday that he did not intend to run for next term. But he insisted on staying in power until his term ends after presidential elections in September.

The military, which is crucial for deciding whether the embattled president will step down, has so far given no hint of its stance.

The 12th day of the nationwide anti-government demonstration seemed to be relatively quiet, with a few thousands of protestors still sitting in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.

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