BBC & NYT Egypt news summaries for the day:

bbc.co.uk

…
Mr Gibbs said: “The government has not taken the necessary steps that the people of Egypt need to see. That’s why more and more people come out to register their grievances.

“If there’s some notion on the government side that you can put the genie back in this bottle, I think that’s gone a long time ago.”

He added that the US was reviewing its aid programme to Egypt, and the government’s restraint and reform would determine “what that aid will look like”.

His remarks follow Tuesday’s call by US Vice-President Joe Biden for the Egyptian government to lift its longstanding state of emergency, and to stop harassing journalists and activists.
…
Late on Tuesday night, Vice President Omar Suleiman said the crisis must end, adding: “We don’t want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools.”

He warned that if dialogue with the protesters failed, the alternative was “that a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities”.

nytimes.com

…
The country’s foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, dismissed calls by Egyptian protesters and the Vice President Joe Biden to scrap the country’s emergency laws, which allow the authorities to detain people without charge.

“We have 17,000 prisoners loose in the streets out of jails that have been destroyed,” Mr. Aboul Gheit said. “How can you ask me to sort of disband that emergency law while I’m in that difficulty?”