Egypt’s National Salvation Front grapple for national dialogue

El-Baradei: We want an immediate meeting with President Morsi Cairo – Arabstoday Egyptian opposition leaders on Wednesday sought urgent talks on the political crisis gripping the country, as fresh violence killed two more people in Cairo. Mohamed El-Baradei, a leading figure in the National Salvation Front [NSF], called for the talks just two days after the opposition had rejected Islamist Mohammed Morsi's appeal for dialogue.
"We want an immediate meeting between the President, the Defence and Interior Ministers, the ruling party, the Salafist movement and the NSF to take urgent measures to end the violence and begin a serious dialogue," El-Baradei tweeted.
Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, another NSF leader, said "the serious current situation" required the acceptance of dialogue "in order to stop the confrontations and the violence."
It was not immediately clear whether this represented a step back by the NSF, which had been demanding a national salvation government and amendment of the Islamist-drafted constitution before agreeing to talks.
But Khaled Dawoud, spokesman for El-Baradei's al-Dustour party, said El-Baradei's statement was a "denial of all the claims by the presidency that we reject dialogue.”
"We are looking for a way out of this [crisis] because we're extremely worried,” he added.
The latest unrest began with protests marking the second anniversary of the Egyptian uprising, and took a violent turn at the weekend after 21 residents of Port Said were sentenced to death over football-related violence.
On Wednesday, Fitch ratings downgraded Egypt's long-term foreign and local currency ratings from B+ to B, with a negative outlook, citing political instability, a weaker economy and diminishing foreign reserves.
Anger on the streets has been directed primarily at Morsi, who is accused of betraying the revolution that brought him the presidency and of consolidating power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood.
Scrambling to contain the unrest, Morsi on Sunday slapped the three riot-hit Canal provinces with a curfew from 2100 hrs until 0600 hrs, provoking more protests.
On Wednesday, governors in Suez and Ismailia eased the curfew to run from 0200 hrs to 0500 hrs. In Port Said, which has witnessed the deadliest unrest, curfew hours were reduced to 0100 hrs to 0500 hrs, state media reported.
On Wednesday afternoon, leaders of the NSF -- which groups together largely liberal and leftist parties -- held talks with the Salafist al-Nour party in response to an invitation from the ultra-conservative Islamist group to discuss the crisis.
They agreed to discuss the formation of a national salvation government and amendment of the constitution.
"One single faction cannot be responsible for managing the affairs of the state," said al-Nour chief Yunes Makhyun.
"We are concerned for the public interest. Our ideologies may be different but we are all children of one country."
In Cairo, two people were killed near Tahrir Square on Wednesday. Their identities were unknown, but medics said they had both been hit by buckshot.
Their deaths bring to four the number of people killed in Cairo and 54 the nationwide total since violence erupted late on Thursday, prompting Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, to warn the crisis could lead to "a collapse of the state."
Most of the deaths were in Port Said on Saturday after a court issued death sentences against 21 supporters of local football club Al-Masry for their role in deadly riots last year.
Also in Cairo, authorities detained four suspected Black Bloc members as they protested against an order by the public prosecutor to arrest anyone from the shadowy opposition group. The Egyptian government has since termed the loose-knit anarchist group as a “terrorist organisation.”
As the call for dialogue was made, Morsi was in Berlin for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel who urged him to ensure dialogue remains an option.
Source: AFP