Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik offered to negotiate with opposition parties, Egyptian state television reported on Thursday.
Opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei has rejected the offer, saying that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak must step down first.
RELATED:ElBaradei: Democratic Egypt won't be anti-Israel, USGallery: Riots heat up in Cairo's Tahrir SquareClinton urges investigation into Egypt protester attacksHowever, Shafik said the government is in dialogue with anti-government demonstrators in Cairo, BBC reported.
Shafik was appointed by Mubarak earlier this week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK
Prime Minister David Cameron urged rapid progress in forming a broadly
based government in Egypt, echoing a call by President Barack Obama.
“Only a quick and orderly transition to a broad-based government will
make it possible to overcome the challenges Egypt is now facing,” the
three leaders said in a joint statement released today that was also
signed by Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and Spain’s Jose Luis Zapatero.
“That transition process must start now.”
In a Wednesday night
interview with CBS News, ElBaradei said he will "never get into a dialogue while Mubarak is in power."
"Because all what you [by negotiating with Mubarak] do is give that regime a legitimacy, which in my view, they have lost," he added. "But more importantly - I don't think he understand what democracy means. I don't think he understands that he really needs to, you know, let go."
