Egypt's Suleiman meets with Muslim Brotherhood on reform

Egyptian Vice President hold talks with opposition groups including the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIRO: Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman held talks on Sunday with opposition groups including the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood to try and find a way out of the country's worst crisis in decades, attendees said.

They said the attendees included members of secular opposition parties, independent legal experts and business tycoon Naguib Sawiris. A representative of opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei was also in attendance.

The opposition are demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule. Many of its members, including the Brotherhood, had said they would not meet any government representatives before he stepped down. He has refused to do so.

Suleiman last week urged the Brotherhood to join dialogue, calling it "valuable opportunity" for the group. It was his publically announced meeting with Brotherhood members since his appointment as vice president.

Clinton cautiously welcomes Muslim Brotherhood talks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautiously welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood's involvement in political talks in Egypt, saying Washington would "wait and see" how talks develop.

"Today we learned the Muslim Brotherhood decided to participate, which suggests they at least are now involved in the dialogue that we have encouraged," Clinton told National Public Radio (NPR) from Germany.

"We're going to wait and see how this develops, but we've been very clear about what we expect."