Some 20,000 defiantly demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight despite the deaths of at least 33 since November 19. But the protests have yet to attract the hundreds of thousands who toppled President Hosni Mubarak in January and February.

"The people want the fall of the marshal," they chanted, referring to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defence minister for two decades and head of the army council.

Medical sources at Cairo's main morgue said 33 corpses had been received since November 19, most with bullet wounds. The Health Ministry put the toll at 24 dead and 1,250 wounded.

The ruling council late on November 21 urged calm and called for crisis talks with political forces to find a way forward. The council voiced its "deep regret for the victims in these painful incidents," state news agency MENA said.

The military council did not say whether it would accept the resignation of the cabinet, tendered on Sunday. A military source said it was seeking agreement on a new prime minister.

Reuters