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Newly-appointed Vice-President Umar Sulayman's offer to talk with the Egyptian protestors has led to contradictory responses among the various parties and groups.

The protests were not initiated by any particular political party or group, but as events unfolded, the various opposition groupings all adopted the demands of the protestors, which, over several days, escalated to the departure of President Mubarak.

Mubarak appointed Umar Sulayman, then general intelligence chief, as Vice-President on 29 January. Two days later, he appeared on state television to say that the President had tasked him with making "immediate contacts" with all political factions. The order was to start a dialogue about constitutional and legislative reforms which, he said, would lead to "a clear definition of proposed amendments and the specific times for their execution".

Initially, there was no enthusiasm among the protesters to engage in the dialogue. But Mubarak gave a speech on 1 February in which committed to not standing in the next Presidential election, due in September 2011.

After discussions, this appears to have encouraged a coalition of the New Wafd Party, the Tajammu' (Grouping) Party and the Nasirite Arab Party, as well as other forces, to agree to a dialogue with the Vice-President. "There has been a change in our stance on dialogue with the institutions of government, now that President Mubarak announced he promised not to run for president," CNN Arabic quoted a statement from this coalition.

However, the statement went on: "In our acceptance of the principle of negotiation and dialogue, we do not claim to represent anyone other than those we represent. Nor do we have the power to direct anyone to accept or refuse to do so."

But Muhammad Al-Barad'i, the former International Atomic Energy chief who has been calling for change in his native Egypt, and the Muslim Brotherhood, have insisted that they will not engage in talks with Sulayman until President Mubarak has left office. "We have refused to meet. Any negotiations are conditional on Husni Mubarak stepping down and also conditional on security in Al-Tahrir Square," Al-Barad'i told Reuters by telephone.

"We would also like to add that we refuse anything that results from this meeting [with other parties]," said Muhammad al-Biltaji, a former member of parliament from the Brotherhood, adding that his group backed the conditions outlined by Al-Barad'i. Kifaya, an anti-Mubarak political movement, has also announced it will not take part in talks or dialogue before the departure of Mubarak.

The three opposition parties and groups that have opted for dialogue with the government do not actually represent the majority of the protestors in Al-Tahrir Square, whose demand now is the departure of President Mubarak. However, their breaking ranks with the rest of the opposition may be significant for the cause of the protestors, particularly as the protesting youths have no formal leadership structure.