Egypt's national dialogue begins

CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The long-awaited Egyptian national dialogue headed by President Mohamed Morsi with the political factions started Monday night in the presidency headquarters, official MENA news agency reported.

Hours ago, Egypt's main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front (NSF), announced at a press conference its refusal to Morsi' s call for dialogue.

"We refuse the president's call for dialogue as it ignored the front's main demands that were announced before," said the NSF.

"We don't refuse the dialogue with the presidency in general, but we refuse the dialogues that won't benefit the Egyptian people, " said NSF leading member Hamdeen Sabahy.

Morsi issued a statement Sunday, inviting 11 parties and some independent figures for dialogue on Monday, including al-Dostour Party headed by Elbaradei, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, al-Wafd Party, Strong Egypt Party and others.

Morsi also decided Sunday to impose a 30-day curfew and a state of emergency in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia, after bloody clashes between anti-government protestors and security forces in the three governorates killed dozens and injured hundreds over the past few days.

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