CAIRO - "Let's feel optimistic" was the answer of Egypt's newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to a question on dialogue with political powers in Egypt to find a way out of the current crisis as protesters in a central Cairo square showed no signs of giving up. "Contacts with political powers are underway and there are several signs indicating the crisis is moving to a solution," said Shafiq after emerging from a mini-cabinet meeting chaired for the first time by President Hosni Mubarak. He added that the Government was ready to hold dialogue with all political powers, including the Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954. "When the Brothers find other parties having fruitful dialogue, they would get involved in the process," said Shafiq. "The meeting with the President focused on the Government's efforts to provide for basic needs, food and fuel to Egyptians in the coming days," added Shafiq, who pointed out that there would be a series of meetings with Mubarak to follow up the situation on the Egyptian street. Protesters in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of a stubborn campaign to get Mubarak to stand down immediately, showed no signs of abating although their numbers were reduced by more than two thirds, as the European Union and the United States are stepping up pressure for a transition to begin. "All we care for in the time being is restoring stability, managing dialogue with the youth protesters," said the Egyptian Premier, who was an ex-Army Major-General. Shafiq also instructed Minister of Interior Mahmoud Wagdi to speed up the re-deployment of policemen and restoring work in police stations nationwide, focusing on providing "distinguished service for the citizens". "All policemen are asked to treat kindly with citizens," said Wagdi. Ministers of petroleum, trade, finance and social solidarity, and the head of the central bank attended the mini-Cabinet meeting, as Minister of Trade and Industry Samiha Fawzi urged Egyptians to report any price rises. Emerging from the Cabinet meeting, Minister of Finance Samir Radwan said that subsidies would stay untouched and that the State would pay for any price hikes in the world market. "We have allocated LE1.5 billon to buy wheat as the total funds allocated within a week hit LE2.8 billion," said Radwan. Gunfire was heard in Tahrir Square early yesterday as several thousands protesters spent a chilly night alongside Egyptian army tanks, regarded as protection from riot police or pro-Mubarak mobs. Witnesses said the gunfire were warning shots fired by soldiers on the nearby October Bridge over the River Nile to stop a clash between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups. The sound of some of the tanks in front of the Egyptian Museum starting up their engines later in the morning prompted dozens to immediately sit down around them to prevent them from moving. "The army and the people are two-into-one," crowds chanted, as soldiers bearing AK-47 assault rifles stood in a row a few metres (yards) away, blocking the way to the landmark museum. "We are sitting here to stop the army from removing our barricade" composed of charred police cars, said protester Mohamed Gamal, 24, who held a blue plastic tube as protection against thugs. "Leave, leave, leave," people camped out in the square — scene of violent clashes this week between anti-government protesters and Mubarak loyalists — chanted. "We are not leaving the square until our demands are met," one of them shouted over a loudspeaker, after a relatively peaceful night where some sang patriotic songs and chanted poetry over loudspeakers talking of victory over Mubarak. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians held mostly peaceful demonstrations across the country on Friday. Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit criticized remarks by Iran's supreme leader that the unrest in Egypt was a sign of an Islamic movement gaining strength in the Arab world. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday compared the unrest in Cairo to the period before the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 and described the recent events as an 'Islamic awakening.' Abul Gheit said the comment 'crossed all red lines by addressing Egypt's internal issues through a hostile and hateful perspective.' He said: "The hopes to establish an Islamic Middle East led by Iran reveal what the state seeks to achieve in the region." Khamenei also said that 'the echo of the Iranian nation is now heard in North Africa,' and that a new political setup in Egypt would endanger Israel's existence. Iran and Egypt severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution because of Cairo's peace treaty with Israel, although the two governments do maintain interest sections.
