By Grant McCool

  NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and Chief Financial Officer David Viniar could be asked to testify in former board member Rajat Gupta's civil insider-trading case, according to court documents.

  The Goldman executives are among 10 people " whom we would most want to depose," ahead of trial, Gupta's defense attorney Gary Naftalis said in court papers made public on Monday.

  Gupta, 62, was charged on Oct. 26 with leaking Goldman boardroom secrets to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a broad U.S. crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds. Besides Rajaratnam, Gupta is the most prominent executive to face insider-trading charges in the case.

  Gupta faces criminal charges brought by the Justice Department and a civil case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is fighting the charges.

  The letter, dated Nov. 15, listed Blankfein, Viniar, Goldman Sachs Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, Managing Director David Loeb and lead board member John Bryan. Blankfein testified as a government witness at Rajaratnam's criminal trial.

  Neither the influential Wall Street bank nor any of its executives has been accused of wrongdoing.

  Gupta stepped down from Goldman's board earlier this year. He also is a former director of Procter & Gamble Co and former global head of the McKinsey & Co consultancy.

  Rajaratnam was convicted in May and sentenced last month to 11 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff also ordered him to pay $92.8 million to the SEC. The market regulator named him as a defendant in its case against Gupta.

  In a separate letter to the judge, lawyers for Rajaratnam said the Goldman Sachs employees they want to depose include Cohn and Loeb.

  A Goldman Sachs spokesman, Michael DuVally, declined to comment.

  The names of Cohn and Loeb came up on Friday in court at oral arguments over whether or not depositions in the regulator's case should be taken until a criminal case against Gupta is completed.

  The SEC said in a separate letter to the court that it wanted to interview Gupta and his wife, Anita Matto Gupta, and Rajaratnam and his brother, Rengan.

  The judge has scheduled April 9, 2012 for the start of Gupta's criminal trial and Oct. 1, 2012 for the civil trial.

  The cases are SEC v Gupta and Rajaratnam, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-07566 and USA v Rajat Gupta No. 11-907 in the same court. (Reporting by Grant McCool)

By Steve Gutterman

  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday dismissed new U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's financial and energy sectors as " unacceptable" and said they would damage any chances of renewing negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme.

  A sharply worded Russian statement underscored Moscow's longstanding opposition to sanctions beyond those endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia holds veto power as a permanent member. The Council has passed four packages of limited sanctions against Iran since 2006.

  " We again underline that the Russian Federation considers such extraterritorial measures unacceptable and contradictory to international law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in the statement.

  It indicated that despite big powers having united to push through a U.N. nuclear agency board resolution last week that expressed increasing concern about Iran's nuclear programme, Russia continues to differ sharply with the West on how to win Tehran's cooperation.

  " Such practices ... seriously complicate efforts for constructive dialogue with Tehran," Lukashevich said.

  The United States, which fears Tehran's nuclear programme is secretly geared to developing atomic weapons, named Iran on Monday as an area of " primary money laundering concern" in a step designed to dissuade non-U.S. banks from dealing with it.

  It also blacklisted 11 entities suspected of assisting Iran's nuclear activity, which Tehran says is meant for peaceful purposes including power generation, and expanded sanctions to target companies that aid its oil and petrochemical industries.

  Britain and Canada also announced new sanctions against Iran's energy and financial sectors while France proposed measures including freezing the assets of Iran's central bank and suspending purchases of oil.

  FEWER CONCERNS IN MOSCOW THAN WEST

  Russia has significant commercial ties with Iran and built a nuclear power plant, the Islamic Republic's first, that was switched on this year.

  Analysts say Moscow see less risk than the West of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future, and uses its ties with Tehran as a lever in relations with the United States, its former Cold War foe.

  Russia has approved four sets of Security Council sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme, most recently in 2010, when President Dmitry Medvedev also pleased Washington by scrapping a contract to sell Tehran ground-to-air missiles.

  Those moves came at a time of improving relations between Russia and the United States, after President Barack Obama downsized a European missile defence plan that Russia opposed and signed a nuclear arms limitation treaty with Medvedev.

  Now, however, with talks on missile defence cooperation with Washington at an impasse, and the possibility that a Republican critic of Russia could be elected U.S. president in 2012, Moscow appears to see little gain from supporting new Iran sanctions.

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who plans to return to Russia's presidency in a March election, has expressed less concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions than Medvedev, the protege he ushered into the Kremlin in 2008.

  Russia has underlined its opposition to further sanctions and is calling instead for a step-by-step process under which existing sanctions would be eased in return for actions by Tehran to dispel international concerns.

  Western powers have not warmed to that idea, given that previous talks with Iran failed even to agree an agenda, with Iran loath to negotiate any aspect of its nuclear programme.

  Moscow says additional sanctions are hurting the chances of reviving talks between Iran and six global powers -- Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

  " Strengthening sanctions pressure, which for some of our partners is becoming practically an end in itself, will not promote increased readiness on Iran's part to sit down at the negotiating table," Lukashevich said.

  (Writing by Steve Gutterman Editing by Mark Heinrich)

(Adds details, background)

  By Rie Ishiguro

  TOKYO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The euro zone debt crisis could hurt Japan's economy through a rise in the yen and falls in share prices and exports, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Hirohide Yamaguchi said on Tuesday, in a sign of the bank's growing caution about the economic outlook.

  His comments are yet more evidence of growing caution within the central bank, which left monetary policy unchanged last week but downgraded its economic assessment.

  " We need to pay close attention to the possibility that shocks arising from Europe could ... hurt the overall global economy," Yamaguchi said in a speech at the Japan Center for International Finance, adding that the U.S. economy is also not at full strength in the aftermath of the Lehman shock.

  " In that case, there would be downward pressure on the Japanese economy through financial channels such as a rising yen and stock price falls, as well as declines in exports and through a possible impact on business sentiment."

  Yamaguchi said Europe's debt problems are the prime source of uncertainty over the outlook for the Japanese economy, in which the BOJ currently expects growth to pick up in the fiscal year from April on support from emerging economies and efforts to rebuild after the March earthquake.

  His remarks suggest the central bank would be ready to offer further monetary stimulus if risks to Japan's economic recovery increase.

  Yamaguchi is seen as a key figure to watch for signals on the direction of monetary policy and is regarded as the man in charge of communicating the BOJ's view to the government and ruling party lawmakers.

  At its last policy meeting, some of the nine board members, though not a majority, saw a higher risk of Europe's problems turning into a negative feedback loop in which tighter bank credit, less fiscal spending and an economic downturn feed into one another.

  Echoing such concerns, Yamaguchi said: " At present in Europe, there is no sudden negative feedback loop such as the one seen during the Lehman shock. But such a (mechanism) is emerging between public finances, the financial system and the real economy."

  The central bank cut its growth forecasts and eased monetary conditions on Oct. 27 by adding 5 trillion yen ($65 billion) to its asset buying scheme, taking it to 20 trillion yen.

  Its decision to stand pat last week reflected the dominant view within the central bank that its previous easing had taken into account the recent slump in output and business sentiment. ($1 = 76.9800 Japanese yen) (Editing by Joseph Radford)

(Refiles to correct spelling of World Trade Organization)

  * Support for mkt opening growing in China:ex-trade official

  * Still, further reforms face high hurdles

  * No " pre-cooked" plan to shortchange private sector

  By Lucy Hornby

  BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - There is growing support among regional officials for further market opening in China, a decade after entry to the World Trade Organization forced its economy to adapt to bracing competition, argued China's former lead trade negotiator.

  Long Yongtu, who led the negotiations that brought Communist China into the WTO in 2001, said his recent meetings and travels showed growing impatience with the vested interests that have slowed reforms to a crawl in the past few years.

  " The mainstream of Chinese leadership and many senior colleagues, including provincial and local leaders, still believe that reform and opening up should continue," Long told Reuters from his office in one of Beijing's earliest skyscrapers .

  " The general feeling is still for going ahead or we will face more difficulties and problems. This is the consensus of the majority of cadres," said Long, who is now a member of the international board for the Boao Forum for Asia. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  Reuters Insider interview with Long: http://reut.rs/rTBJ3M

  Reuters Insider on coddled banks: http://reut.rs/uIZX8c

  China " fine tunes" credit conditions

  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  Even so, economic reformers -- particularly those who favour dropping the investment barriers for foreign companies and reining in the powerful state-owned companies -- face a difficult path in today's China.

  Over the past decade, the Chinese government has bolstered the position of the state sector, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis, when Beijing poured 4 trillion yuan ($630 billion) worth of stimulus spending into the economy, much of it via government-owned companies.

  With another global slowdown looming, few senior Chinese officials publicly advocate further market opening or reform.

  Those backing a market-based approach lost credibility when Western governments responded to the economic crisis by intervening heavily in their economies, said Long.

  " Some government officials say that for the last 10 years we were always trying to streamline and take away privileges. They say 'But look at (the West)!," Long said.

  Long admitted that the planned handover of the top posts in China late next year had put a damper on any reform initiatives at the local level.

  China's top leadership will hand over the reins next fall in a planned reshuffle that will reverberate through a Party bureaucracy that permeates every level of society, from big business in Beijing to local administrators in remote provinces.

  " Many cadres prefer not to take action, or not very big action, to avoid a big mistake or jeopardising their career," he said.

 

  NO PLAN TO FAVOUR THE STATE SECTOR

  China has largely met its WTO commitments to open its markets, contributing to a decade of economic growth that has catapulted its economy to the world's No. 2 spot. But some sectors, such as financial services and the resources industry, stay largely out of reach.

  And trade friction persists. Trading partners complain that the surge of cheap exports from China has undermined their own industries, while their firms face continuing market access issues and in some cases requirements that they transfer technology to local partners.

  As for the dominance of state-owned enterprises, there was no " pre-cooked intention" to short-change the private sector, Long said.

  But China was desperate to avoid the global financial crisis of 2008, and only the big state enterprises -- whose spending accounts for 35 percent of China's total fixed-asset investment -- were large enough to absorb the flood of stimulus money that came into the economy.

  Long himself was surprised that the foreign banks -- a particular bone of contention during WTO negotiations -- had only managed to get about 3 percent of the market in China, lower than the 10 to 15 percent he had expected.

  He attributed that partly to foreign banks' missteps and argued that China's biggest banks could benefit from more competition in any case.

  " The big banks, they feel they have no pressure to reform. In fact, they don't know how."

  ($1 = 6.355 Chinese Yuan) (Editing by Don Durfee and Jacqueline Wong)

* Western countries impose new sanctions on Iran

  * Geopolitical jitters support prices despite U.S., Europe debt woes

  * COMING UP: American Petroleum Institute weekly stocks, 2130 GMT (Adds quote para 17, updates prices)

  By Zaida Espana

  LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures rose above $108 a barrel on Tuesday as fresh sanctions on Iran raised the prospect of political instability in the region, offsetting the effect on the oil price of worries about the health of Western economies and their fuel demand.

  The United States, Britain and Canada on Monday announced new sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran to stop its nuclear programme.

  ICE Brent crude January futures rose $1.47 to $108.35 a barrel by 1239 GMT, after falling for four consecutive sessions. Brent has risen 13 percent this year, and is set for a third annual gain.

  U.S. January crude futures were $1.44 cents firmer at $98.36 a barrel by the same time, having risen to an intra-day high of $98.49 a barrel, after three sessions of losses.

  " There is geopolitical risk after Western countries intensified pressure on Iran, cutting financial links and also putting sanctions on the oil industry," Commerzbank oil analyst Carsten Fritsch said. " This increases the risk of supply disruptions either directly from Iran or transported via the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one third of seaborne oil."

  Investors fear oil prices could spike in the event of air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, which could cut supply from OPEC's second largest crude producer and disrupt trade in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil transit channel.

  The uncertainty has supported prices, under pressure from the worsening debt crisis in Europe and the United States that is expected to hurt economic growth.

  Analysts expect that liquidity in the oil market will however dry up ahead of the U.S. long holiday weekend.

  " Over the next two days the main input is likely to be Thanksgiving. Liquidity should gradually dry up as we go into a very long trading weekend," Petromatrix's Olivier Jakob said.

 

  GEOPOLITICAL RISK PREMIUM RETURNS

  OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said on Tuesday that the global oil market is balanced and prices are " comfortable" .

  Earlier, Iraq's oil minister had said in Tokyo he expects OPEC members to agree to trim output when they meet in December amid weak demand.

  On the supply front, Iran dismissed the new sanctions as propaganda, adding that new western states sanctions would not stop it exporting petrochemicals to the European Union.

  U.S. sanctions have already made it extremely difficult for many global oil companies and traders to obtain bank financing to trade Iranian crude, less than a third of which goes to Europe, with the rest flowing to China and India.

  The United Arab Emirates could start as early as end-December pumping oil via a key pipeline that will allow it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and protect exports.

  Escalating unrest in other Middle East nations Egypt and Syria also underpinned oil prices, analysts said.

  Stockpile watchers await the latest weekly oil data from the American Petroleum Institute due at 4:30 pm. EST (2130 GMT). A Reuters poll of analysts forecasts a fall in U.S. crude oil and distillate stocks last week while gasoline stockpiles rose.

  Pricing pressures remain on the downside according to Barclays' oil analyst Amrita Sen, if the debt crisis in Europe or the tensions in the Middle East do not flare up.

 

  EUROPE, U.S. DEBT

  World equities took a hit on Monday as fears about the ability of politicians on either side of the Atlantic to tackle huge debt burdens sapped investor confidence in riskier assets.

  A " super committee" of U.S. lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a deficit-cutting plan while risk premiums on Spanish, Italian, French and Belgian government bonds rose as investors fled to safe-haven German Bunds.

  " The big concern now is whether U.S. politicians will stall an economy that is starting to recover," ANZ analysts, led by Mark Pervan, said in a note.

  Even China's economy faces growing risks from Europe's sovereign debt crisis and from debt held by local Chinese governments, the World Bank said, but it could engineer a soft landing by easing monetary policy. (Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore editing by Keiron Henderson)

(Repeats story first filed on Friday, with no changes)

  By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent

  LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters)- In some cultures, the number 7 is mystical and magical in the euro zone, it's a Mayday call.

  Yields on the bonds of two of the currency bloc's largest economies -- Italy and Spain -- were either at or within a whisker of 7 percent in the past week, creating huge concern about future funding and prompting a selloff in riskier assets.

  Widely considered the level at which funding costs become too high to be sustainable, extended periods of 7 percent yields have previously prompted bailouts for Ireland and Portugal.

  Italy and Spain are too big for this, particularly combined, so it is almost certain that the coming week will be dominated by investors watching to see whether this can reverse or at least be contained.

  Weekly bond-buying data from the European Central Bank, released on Monday, will give some idea of how much the authorities had to fight to keep yields just where they were.

  The European Commission also publishes its consultation paper on common euro zone bond issuance, something Germany strongly objects to.

  With the end-of-month deadline approaching for the euro zone to produce firm plans for leveraging the EFSF bailout fund, markets will also be keenly watching central bank officials and bloc finance ministers.

  The point for financial markets is that after months or worrying about whether contagion will take hold from Greece and other smaller countries' debt problem, it already has done.

  " We saw selling pressure moving to the core members, including the Netherlands and Austria," said Nick Stamenkovic, macro strategist at RIA Capital Markets.

  And with yields rising in France and Belgium as well it could even be argued that core Europe now only consists of Germany. But Bunds have begun acting in a way that suggests they may be losing some of their safe-haven appear.

  Add to that the behaviour of euro/dollar cross currency basis swaps. The cost to European banks of swapping euros for dollars rose in the past week to its most expensive level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

  Europe may not actually be on the brink, but markets are beginning to act as if it is.

 

  HERE COMES THE U.S.

  With such a crisis under way, it is hard to imagine that anything else could demand too much investor attention. But while Europe wallows, the U.S. economy has been pulling out of its mid-year-slump.

  Recent readings on the U.S. economy have steadily topped analysts' expectations. Many now think the fourth quarter will prove stronger than the third, when the economy expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate.

  The coming week offers up the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing report and U.S. durable goods orders. Better-than-expected results would add to the improving mood and set markets up for the bellwether jobs data a week later.

  Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, contrasts what is happening in the U.S. economy with the euro zone, which is sliding towards recession.

  " In the U.S., you have a Federal Reserve that is taking exactly the opposite tack to the ECB," he said. " It has been making very positive noises in its efforts to support the U.S. economy. And there is not at this stage any real drive towards fiscal austerity in the States."

  The problem for Washington is that the euro problems could easily undermine the U.S. resurgence. For example, a surge in the dollar if the euro became unstable would undermine exports.

  The euro zone's economic decline is expected to be highlighted in the coming week in manufacturing surveys and various consumer soundings.

  It all points to more volatility on financial markets -- with euro zone sovereign debt yields centre stage. (Editing by Hugh Lawson)

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's media adviser was arrested on Monday in his office by the judiciary, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, without giving a reason for his arrest.

  " A few minutes ago Ali Akbar Javanfekr was arrested after holding a news conference with local media," Mehr said.

  Iranian media reported on Sunday that Javanfekr was sentenced to a year in jail and banned from journalism over a publication which was deemed to have offended public decency.

  Javanfekr is also the head of Iran's state news agency IRNA.

  Witnesses said " security forces fired tear gas inside the building of the state-run Iran newspaper," where Javanfekr was giving the news conference.

  Iranian authorities shut down reformist Etemad newspaper on Sunday after it published a scathing attack by Javanfekr on the president's rival conservatives. The daily is banned from publishing for two months for " disseminating lies and insults to officials in the establishment."

  Iran's conservatives accuse Ahmadinejad of being in the thrall of a " deviant current" of advisers seeking to undermine the authority of the clergy in the Islamic Republic's system of government.

* Sees " stronger dampening effects" in fourth quarter growth

  * Says euro zone growth in " soft patch" not long-term decline

  * Inflation likely to decelerate over coming two years (Adds detail)

  By Carmel Crimmins and Padraic Halpin

  DUBLIN, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The euro zone's sovereign debt crisis has spread from its periphery to its core but the region's economic weakness is likely to be temporary, outgoing ECB board member Juergen Stark said on Monday.

  " The sovereign debt crisis has re-intensified and is now spreading over to other countries including so-called core countries. This is a new phenomenon," Stark said in a speech to Ireland's Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin.

  " The sovereign debt crisis is not only concentrated in Europe, most advanced economies are facing serious problems with their public debt."

  The European Central Bank sees a strong dampening of growth in the euro area in the fourth quarter, but this phase should be temporary, Stark also said.

  The 17-nation euro zone economy grew a modest 0.2 percent in the third quarter from the second, lifted by France and Germany, but economists say the bloc is almost certainly heading for a recession.

  Survey data has deteriorated in the past two months, indicating " stronger dampening effects" in the fourth quarter after relatively benign third-quarter, Stark said in a speech in Dublin.

  " Based on most recent information, our staff do not expect longer term weakening in economic activity, but expect a soft patch," he said.

  " We should avoid talking ourselves into recession."

  A nasty mix of inflation, slowing exports and rising unemployment in the euro zone has caused many economists to predict a mild recession in Europe from the fourth quarter. ECB President Mario Draghi has also predicted a " mild recession" in the bloc by the end of the year.

  Stark said the debt crisis had spread around the world, but rejected the idea that weakness in the euro zone was dragging down the United States and United Kingdom.

  " I think all these countries have their particular problems," he said.

  Inflation is likely to slow over the next two years, he said, citing projections from other institutions.

  " We see in this projection horizon, a moderation of inflation in line with what we have defined as price stability in the ECB," he said. (Writing by Conor Humphries Editing by John Stonestreet)

By Shaimaa Fayed and Marwa Awad

  CAIRO (Reuters) - Cairo police fought protesters demanding an end to army rule for a third day on Monday and morgue officials said the death toll had risen to 33, making it the worst spasm of violence since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

  The bloodshed in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicentre of the anti-Mubarak revolt, threatens to disrupt Egypt's first free parliamentary election in decades, due to start next week.

  Clashes have raged on and off since police used batons and tear gas to try to disperse a sit-in in Tahrir on Saturday.

  Protesters have brandished bullet casings in the square, but police deny using live fire. Medical sources at Cairo's main morgue said 33 corpses had been received there since Saturday, most of them with bullet wounds. At least 1,250 people have been wounded, a Health Ministry source said.

  " I've seen the police beat women my mother's age. I want military rule to end," said 21-year-old Mohamed Gamal. " I will just go home in the evening to change my clothes and return."

  Islamists dominated demonstrations against army rule on Friday, but the unrest in Tahrir since then has drawn in many of the young activists who helped topple Mubarak on February 11.

  Army generals were feted for their part in easing him out, but hostility to their rule has hardened since, especially over attempts to set new constitutional principles that would keep the military permanently beyond civilian control.

  Police attacked a makeshift hospital in the square after dawn on Monday but were driven back by protesters hurling chunks of concrete from smashed pavements, witnesses said.

  " Don't go out there, you'll end up martyrs like the others," protesters told people emerging from a metro station at Tahrir Square, where about 4,000 had gathered by midday.

  CLOUD OVER ELECTION

  The violence casts a pall over the first round of voting in Egypt's staggered and complex election process, which starts on November 28 in Cairo and elsewhere. The army says the polls will go ahead, but the unrest could deter voters in the capital.

  Some Egyptians, including Islamists who expect to do well in the vote, say the ruling army council may be stirring insecurity to prolong its rule, a charge the military denies.

  German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for an end to the violence. " This is quite evidently an attempt to thwart a democratic transition process and we are opposed to that attempt," he said.

  Political uncertainty has gripped Egypt since Mubarak's fall, while sectarian clashes, labour unrest, gas pipeline sabotage and a gaping absence of tourists have paralysed the economy and prompted a widespread yearning for stability.

  The state news agency MENA said 63 flights to and from Cairo had been cancelled because of the latest unrest.

  The military plans to keep its presidential powers until a new constitution is drawn up and a president is elected in late 2012 or early 2013. Protesters want a much swifter transition.

  The army said on Monday it had intervened in central Cairo to protect the Interior Ministry, not to clear demonstrators from nearby Tahrir Square, whom it also offered to protect.

  " The protesters have a right to protest, but we must stand between them and the Interior Ministry," said General Saeed Abbas. " The armed forces will continue in their plans for parliamentary elections and securing the vote."

  " SAME MENTALITY"

  The Interior Ministry, in charge of a police force widely hated for its heavy-handed tactics in the anti-Mubarak revolt, has been a target for protesters demanding police reform.

  " Unfortunately the Interior Ministry still deals with protests with the same security mentality as during Mubarak's administration," said military analyst Safwat Zayaat.

  The latest street clashes show the depth of frustration, at least in Cairo and some other cities, at the pace of change.

  " Military rule is defunct, defunct," crowds chanted. " Freedom, freedom."

  Internet clips, which could not be verified, showed police beating protesters with sticks, pulling them by the hair and, in one case, dumping what looked like a body on a rubbish heap.

  Residents reacted angrily when police fired tear gas into a crowd gathered below a burning building 200 metres (yards) from Tahrir Square, hindering the rescue of trapped residents.

  Outside the burning apartment building, protesters chanted " Tantawi burnt it and here are the revolutionaries," referring to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defence minister for two decades and leader of the army council.

  " I don't want Tantawi ... I am staying tonight," said Ayman Ramadan, a data entry clerk, said early on Monday morning.

  Doctors in orange vests were treating casualties on pavements in the middle of Tahrir.

  The April 6 Youth movement told MENA it would stay in Tahrir and pursue sit-ins in other cities until its demands were met, including one for a presidential vote by April.

  Other demands include replacing the cabinet with a national salvation government and an immediate investigation into the clashes in Tahrir and trial of those implicated in it.

  Presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a Salafi Islamist, told protesters: " We are demanding as the minimum that power be handed over within six months."

  Presidential hopefuls Mohamed ElBaradei and Abdallah al-Ashaal denounced violence against protesters and called for a national salvation government, MENA said.

  Liberal groups are dismayed by the military trials of thousands of civilians and the army's failure to scrap a hated emergency law. Islamists eying a strong showing in the next parliament suspect the army wants to curtail their influence.

  Analysts say Islamists could win 40 percent of assembly seats, with a big portion going to the Muslim Brotherhood.