20110206
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt tried to get the nation back to work on Sunday with banks reopening, and the vice president held unprecedented talks with a banned Islamist group and other opponents about their demand that President Hosni Mubarak quit.

A steady stream of employees flowed into Cairo's financial district and customers queued to access their accounts, the first day for banks to open after a week-long closure due to unrest that the United Nations says may have killed 300 people.

Armoured personnel carriers stood guard at intersections where soldiers had erected sandbag barriers, as buses dropped employees off at large state banks.

Demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square, marking a "Day of Martyrs" for those killed in protests, said they would intensify their 12-day battle to oust the president who has vowed to stay on until September elections.

With some Egyptians keen for a return to normal, the government has warned of the damage to political stability and the economy of prolonging protests that have shaken the Middle East and opened a new chapter in Egypt's modern history.

The commander of the army, which many say holds the key to Egypt's future, was touring Tahrir (Liberation) Square to try to persuade the protesters, complaining about poverty, repression and corruption, to leave the usually busy intersection.

"We want people to go back to work and to get paid, and life to get back to normal," army commander Hassan al-Roweny said.

The United States, Egypt's ally which provides the army with $1.3 billion annually, has underlined the need for gradual change in political talks between the government and opposition groups in order to achieve an orderly handover of power.