CAIRO (Reuters) – President Hosni Mubarak’s government was to hold its first full meeting of a new cabinet on Monday since protests erupted against his rule with no sign yet of progress in talks with an opposition which wants him out.

Mubarak, who has refused calls to step down before September polls, has tried to focus on restoring order.

But protesters, camped out in Tahrir Sqaure in the heart of Cairo, have vowed to stay until Mubarak quits, and hope to take their campaign to the streets on Tuesday and Friday.

The banned Muslim Brotherhood was among the groups who met with officials over the weekend, a sign of how much has already changed in 13 days that have rocked the Arab world and alarmed Western powers.

But opposition figures reported little progress. While protesters are demanding that Mubarak must go immediately, many also worry that when he does go, he will be replaced not with the democracy they seek but with another authoritarian ruler.

Keen to get traffic moving around Tahrir Square, the army tried early on Monday to further squeeze the area the protesters occupied. Protesters rushed out of their tents to surround soldiers attempting to corral them into a smaller area.

Wary of the army’s attempt to gain ground, dozens of protesters have slept inside the tracks of the army’s vehicles.

CAIRO (Reuters) – President Hosni Mubarak held onto power Monday, defying a popular uprising against his autocratic rule, after the government opened talks with opposition groups to resolve Egypt’s deepest crisis in 30 years.

The banned Muslim Brotherhood were among the groups who met with officials over the weekend, a sign of how much has already changed in 13 days that have rocked the Arab world and alarmed Western powers.

But opposition figures said their core demand that Mubarak must go immediately was not met. Some expressed concern that the government was playing for time in the hope that Mubarak would hang on until September, when his current term expires.

People in central Tahrir Square, focal point of an uprising that has seen hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets and clashes in which an estimated 300 people have been killed, said they would intensify their battle to oust him.

After nightfall Sunday, soldiers fired shots in the air to try to disperse the crowd. But the demonstrators, who on Saturday lay down in front of army tanks, remained and the troops abandoned the attempt.

The nation got back to work Sunday and banks reopened after a week-long crisis with lines of customers seeking access to their accounts.

Government ministers will hold their first full cabinet meeting Monday since Mubarak reshuffled his cabinet on January 28 in an attempt to mollify protesters enraged by years of corruption, economic hardship and political oppression.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Opposition groups including the banned Muslim Brotherhood held talks with the government on Sunday to resolve Egypt’s political crisis but said their core demand for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak was not met.

Demonstrators in central Tahrir Square, focal point of an uprising that has rocked the Arab world and alarmed Western powers, said they would intensify their 12-day battle to oust the president who has vowed to stay on until September.

After nightfall, soldiers fired shots in the air to try to disperse the crowd, punctuating the festival atmosphere that had marked most of the day. But the demonstrators remained and the troops abandoned the attempt.

Sunday morning, the armed forces tried to get the nation back to work on the first day for banks to open after a week-long closure due to unrest in which up to 300 people may have been killed.

Armored personnel carriers stood guard at Cairo intersections where soldiers had erected sandbag barriers. Buses dropped employees off at large state banks.

The government’s willingness to talk to the Brotherhood was testimony to the ground that protesters have gained since the protests, triggered by frustration over corruption, economic hardship and political oppression during Mubarak’s 30-year-rule, first swept the nation on January 25.

Before then, members of the Brotherhood, by far the best organized opposition group, were regularly rounded up and jailed. The demonstrators around Tahrir Square, largely young and secular, lack their clear organization and leadership.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered talks on sweeping reforms with opponents on Monday, indicating that massive pressure from street protesters, Western allies and his own army are ending his 30 years of one-man rule.

After a week of unprecedented rallies against the poverty, corruption and oppression under the 82-year-old military-backed leader, newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman appeared on state television to say Mubarak had asked him to begin dialogue with all political forces on constitutional and other reforms.

It seems unlikely Mubarak could preside for long within any new system that brought free elections to the most populous Arab state. After the fall of Tunisia’s veteran strongman two weeks ago, the shift will send a shockwave throughout the Middle East.

“I think it’s the beginning of the end,” said analyst Omar Ashour, speaking on Al Jazeera television.

Before Suleiman spoke, the armed forces command had declared the demonstrators’ demands “legitimate” and said it would not fire on peaceful protesters who called for a million people to take to the streets on Tuesday to push Mubarak out altogether.

At the same time, the United States, which has backed him as a bulwark against radical Islam and a friend to Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, said bluntly that he must revoke the emergency law under which he has ruled since 1981 and hold free elections. Washington has sent an envoy, former ambassador to Cairo Frank Wisner, to meet Egyptian leaders.

High on the agenda of Western powers, which have been caught off guard by the speed with which Mubarak’s police state has been pushed back by unarmed citizens, will be trying to prevent a full takeover by anti-Western Islamists.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered talks on sweeping reforms with opponents on Monday, indicating that massive pressure from street protesters, Western allies and his own army are ending his 30 years of one-man rule.

After a week of unprecedented rallies against the poverty, corruption and oppression under the 82-year-old military-backed leader, newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman appeared on state television to say Mubarak had asked him to begin dialogue with all political forces on constitutional and other reforms.

It seems unlikely Mubarak could preside for long within any new system that brought free elections to the most populous Arab state. After the fall of Tunisia’s veteran strongman two weeks ago, the shift will send a shockwave throughout the Middle East.

“I think it’s the beginning of the end,” said analyst Omar Ashour, speaking on Al Jazeera television.

Before Suleiman spoke, the armed forces command had declared the demonstrators’ demands “legitimate” and said it would not fire on peaceful protesters who called for a million people to take to the streets on Tuesday to push Mubarak out altogether.

At the same time, the United States, which has backed him as a bulwark against radical Islam and a friend to Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, said bluntly that he must revoke the emergency law under which he has ruled since 1981 and hold free elections. Washington has sent an envoy, former ambassador to Cairo Frank Wisner, to meet Egyptian leaders.

High on the agenda of Western powers, which have been caught off guard by the speed with which Mubarak’s police state has been pushed back by unarmed citizens, will be trying to prevent a full takeover by anti-Western Islamists.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s armed forces pledged not to fire on peaceful demonstrators on Monday as thousands of people, freed from fear after decades of oppression, tried to press home their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

The army, which put Mubarak into power in 1981, seemed to be weighing whether to shift its loyalties as the former general’s opponents spoke of getting a million people onto the streets on Tuesday to mark a week since the unprecedented protests began.

The military command, which may be keener to preserve a 60-year-old system of army-backed government than to prolong the personal rule of the 82-year-old Mubarak, issued a statement on Monday calling protesters’ demands “legitimate” and promising not to use force against people expressing themselves peacefully.

The White House and the European Union renewed their calls for Mubarak to accept the will of the people, though refrained from telling their veteran ally outright that he should quit.

Egyptians in the streets had no such reservations.

“The people want the president out!” chanted thousands in Cairo. “Wake up, Mubarak! Today is your last day!” was the cry of a crowd in Mahalla, a textile mill town in the Nile Delta.

On the sixth day of rallies that have roused fellow Arabs and undermined the long-entrenched assumptions of diplomats and investors, tens of thousands on the streets of Cairo and other cities poured scorn on Mubarak’s bid to save his 30-year rule by naming a new set of loyalists to his government.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with police in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria on Saturday after President Hosni Mubarak spurned demands that he end his 30-year authoritarian rule.

A Reuters witness said police used teargas and live ammunition against demonstrators in Alexandria. Protesters also gathered on a main square in the capital Cairo in defiance of military orders for them to disperse.

The fresh unrest broke out as Mubarak clung to power, replacing his cabinet in an effort to appease angry Egyptians, complaining about poverty, corruption and unemployment.

The president ordered troops and tanks into Cairo and other cities overnight and imposed a curfew in an attempt to quell the protests that have shaken the Arab world’s most populous nation, a key U.S. ally, to the core.

Despite dozens of deaths in clashes on Friday, Egyptians said they would press on with protests until Mubarak quits.

“We are not demanding a change of cabinet, we want them all to leave, Mubarak before anyone else,” said Saad Mohammed, a 45-year-old welder who was among about 2,000 people gathered in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square.

The unrest, which follows the overthrow of Tunisian strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two weeks ago in a popular uprising, has sent shock waves through the Middle East, where other autocratic rulers may face similar challenges.

CAIRO (Reuters) – President Hosni Mubarak clung to power Saturday, replacing his cabinet in an effort to appease angry Egyptians who demonstrated in their tens of thousands to demand an end to his 30-year rule.

Mubarak ordered troops and tanks into the capital Cairo and other cities overnight and imposed a curfew in an attempt to quell protests that have shaken the Arab world’s most populous nation, a key U.S. ally, to the core.

Despite dozens of deaths in Friday’s clashes, people turned out in the streets Saturday in defiance of security forces and said they would carry on protesting until Mubarak quits.

“We are not demanding a change of cabinet, we want them all to leave, Mubarak before anyone else,” said Saad Mohammed, a 45-year-old welder who was among about 2,000 people gathered in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square.

The capital was strewn with wreckage from a day of protests Friday in which tens of thousands of people called for an end to Mubarak’s reign, an unprecedented turn of events in the tightly-controlled country.

Government buildings, including the ruling party headquarters, still blazed Saturday morning after being set alight by demonstrators who defied the curfew to target symbols of Mubarak’s rule.

According to a Reuters tally, at least 54 people were killed Friday, when protesters fought running battles with police firing rubber bullets, teargas and wielding batons.

LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Air travel across much of Europe was paralysed for a fourth day on Sunday because of a huge cloud of volcanic ash, but Dutch and German test flights carried out without apparent damage seemed to offer hope.

Many countries closed their airspaces until well into Sunday or Monday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide, and weather experts said wind patterns meant the cloud was not likely to move far until later in the week.

They said the plume floating through the upper atmosphere from Iceland could become more concentrated on Tuesday and Wednesday, posing an even greater risk and threatening to compound airline losses running at more than $200 million a day.

The no-fly rulings have been imposed because the dust of pulverised rock and glass particles can paralyse jet engines and damage airframes but the test flights on Saturday prompted some optimism from airline officials.

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