Egypt's ruling military council has asked former prime minister Kamal Ganzouri to
form a new government after protesters demanded the army sack the previous cabinet, according to reports.
Mr Ganzouri headed a cabinet from 1996 to 1999 that introduced some economic liberalisation measures. Many Egyptians viewed him as an official who was not tainted by corruption, but his record serving under former president Hosni Mubarak could stir opposition from those demanding a clean break with the past.
State television said the military council had met Mr Ganzouri earlier in the day. Army General Mokhtar al-Mullah told a news conference that the army hoped to form a new government before a parliamentary election begins on Monday.
A truce between Egyptian riot police and protesters succeeded today in calming violence that has killed 39 people in five days, and the army said there would be no delay to a parliamentary vote scheduled for next week.
Demonstrations by thousands of Egyptians furious at the slow transfer of power by military leadership to civilian rule have led to violent clashes with police, in scenes similar to the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in February.
The demonstrators have vowed not to leave Cairo's central Tahrir Square and activists said they would intensify pressure for an end to army rule with a mass rally tomorrow.
The ruling army council again promised that parliamentary elections would start on time next week and would speed up the timetable for a handover from military to civilian presidential rule.
"The people demand the execution of the marshal," crowds chanted, referring to army chief Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who was Mr Mubarak's defence minister for 20 years.
In a communique, protesters called a million-man march on "the Friday of the last chance" to back demands for an immediate transfer to civilian rule via a national salvation government.
The Egyptian Independent Trade Union Federation called for a workers' march to Tahrir. Another labour rights group called for a general strike to back the protests. Labour unions played an important role in the movement that toppled Mubarak.
The heads of two political parties who took part in a meeting with the military council on Tuesday said they now regretted attending and apologised to the protesters in Tahrir.
The demonstrations appear to have polarised Egyptians, many of whom worry that unrest will prolong economic stagnation.
Supporters of the army council had said they would hold a rally to back the military. In a statement on its Facebook page, the army council said it was "appealing to them to cancel the demonstration", saying it wanted to avoid divisions.
Egypt's ruling army council said it was doing all it could to prevent more violence. In a statement, it apologised, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead, and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest.
Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold from midnight. Cranes hauled concrete barriers, later reinforced with barbed wire, across streets leading to the nearby Interior Ministry, flashpoint for much of the recent violence.
Protesters linked arms in human chains to prevent further clashes with security forces guarding the Interior Ministry.
The United States and European nations, alarmed at the violence of the past few days, have urged Egypt to proceed with what has been billed as its first free vote in decades.
The army and the Muslim Brotherhood, which expects to do well in the election, say it must go ahead, but many protesters do not trust the military to oversee a clean vote. Some scorn the Brotherhood for its focus on gaining seats in parliament.
In Tahrir, two groups were chanting against other, one saying, "Muslim Brotherhood, we don't want you in the square," and another responding in a unity call, "One hand, one hand."
The military council originally promised to return to barracks within six months of the fall of Mubarak, but then set a timetable for elections and drawing up a new constitution that would have left it in power until late next year or early 2013.
Before the truce, protesters had fought running battles with security forces around the Interior Ministry. The bloody chaos there contrasted with normal life in streets nearby.
Reuters