Egypt's ruler reaches out to opposition

Egypt's leader reached out to key opposition figures on Saturday just days before landmark polls in the face of a growing rift between military rulers and activists who ousted president Hosni Mubarak. A 19-year-old demonstrator was killed after a protest outside the cabinet headquarters against military leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi's appointment of Kamal al-Ganzuri as Egypt's new prime minister. The protest came as Friday's appointment failed to satisfy demands for change ahead of next week's elections. Tantawi held separate talks with Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, and ex-Arab League chief Amr Mussa, state media reported, as protesters demanding the end of military rule remained camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square. ElBaradei, a prominent dissident during Mubarak's rule, and Mussa were among those proposed by protesters as members of a national salvation government. The teenaged demonstrator was killed following the protest against the naming of Ganzuri, who served as premier under Mubarak, in front of the cabinet headquarters. The victim was hit by a police truck that witnesses said had charged into the demonstrators. An interior ministry statement confirmed the death of Ahmed Surur and expressed its "deepest sorrow and apologies," but said its forces had not been sent to clear the protesters. Police trucks had decided to back up to avoid clashes when the accident took place, it said. At least 42 people have now been killed and more than 3,000 others injured in several days of clashes between protesters and police that broke out on November 19. In nearby Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the uprising that toppled Mubarak and where thousands spent Friday night, protesters demanding civilian rule appeared to be settling in for the long haul. Ganzuri has tried to assure Egyptians that the military has given him more powers than past premiers, in a bid to placate protesters who accuse the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of trying to retain control. And ahead of the start of polling on Monday, the prime minister-designate said he would formalise his government "before the end of next week" and allocate some portfolios to younger people. But the mostly young protesters in the square quickly rejected his appointment. "We do not want someone who hasbeen selected by the military council, we want a civilian who was with us in Tahrir during the revolution, someone who has the confidence of the people," said one protester, Omar Abdel Mansur. Hundreds of demonstrators in the square branched off to the nearby cabinet offices on Friday to block Ganzuri from entering the building, chanting "revolution" and "Ganzuri is a former regime leftover." They were bolstered earlier by an announcement that the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest authority, had thrown his weight behind them. "The grand imam (Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb) backs you and is praying for your victory," senior aide Hassan Shafie told them during a visit to the square, focus of huge protests first against Mubarak and now the army. And ElBaradei joined the protesters in the square on Friday. But the Tahrir protest was countered by a rival demonstration in a square about three kilometres (two miles) away, where more than 10,000 people gathered to show support for the military chanting "Down with Tahrir." The rallies came just days before the first parliamentary elections since Mubarak's ouster in February that left the military in charge. The SCAF led by Tantawihas said repeatedly that it does not have political ambitions and plans to hand power to an elected civilian authority after presidential elections set to take place no later than the end of June 2012. But it has also insisted it will not bow to pressure from the protesters in Tahrir, saying they do not represent the whole country. Washington, a close ally of Egypt, has called for a quick transfer to civilian rule. And UN chief Ban Ki-moon renewed calls for the military rulers to ensure a "peaceful transition" after talks by telephone with Tantawi.