Thousands of protesters were defiantly continuing their vigil in central Cairo today despite government efforts to defuse the political crisis.

Opposition leaders insist that president Hosni Mubarak must step down immediately. The government has promised reforms but says he should stay in office until September elections.

In the latest concessions, judicial officials promised to start questioning three former ministers and a senior ruling party official tomorrow on corruption charges.

A marketing manager from Google who was held is also expected to be released.

Mohammed Eid, a student on Tahrir Square where the main body of protesters are gathered, said: "Our main objective is for Mubarak to step down. We don't accept any other concessions."

Mr Mubarak's regime appears confident in its ability for the moment to ride out the unrest, and maintain its grip on power, with Western backing, at least until the September elections.

Egypt's state-run news agency reported that he ordered the country's parliament and its highest appeal court to re-examine lower-court rulings disqualifying hundreds of ruling party MPs for campaign and ballot irregularities, that were ignored by electoral officials.

The ruling National Democratic Party won more than 83% of the 518 seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections. Implementing the rulings against NDP MPs could cause many to lose their seats and force the dissolution of the parliament and new elections if enough are disqualified.

Meanwhile the army seems to be treating the protesters like a new feature of life in central Cairo, which today seemed closer to its normal weekday routine.

Banks were open for limited hours along with some shops. The stock market remained closed and schools were shut for the mid-year holiday. Traffic was returning to ordinary levels in many places.

Yesterday Egypt's newly named vice president met with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups for the first time.

He promised a series of concessions including:

:: When security permits, the government will lift nearly 30-year-old emergency laws giving police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights.

:: The government will no longer hamper freedom of press or interfere with text messaging or the internet; a committee of judiciary and political figures will study reform the constitution to allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the president.

:: The government will make no recriminations against those participating in the anti-government protests.

The Egyptian stock exchange is due to resume trading next Sunday after being halted for more than a week.

It said today that the country's financial regulator, the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, would announce new measures affecting trading.

The exchange's benchmark index had plummeted 1 % over two days before trading the market closed on January 27. It has remained closed during the protests.