BBC News with Jonathan Izard

State media in Egypt are reporting that a former prime minister, Kamal Ganzouri, has

provisionally

agreed to form a new government after talks with the ruling military council. If he takes the job, Mr Ganzouri would still be accountable to the military council, which has rejected calls to step down immediately. Youssef Taha has this profile.

Kamal Ganzouri served as Egypt's planning minister from 1982 under former President Hosni Mubarak. In 1996, he became the prime minister, a position which he held for under four years when he fell out with his boss, who accused him of mismanaging the country's economy. Mr Ganzouri's cabinet introduced some economic liberalisation measures. Many Egyptians still view him as an official who was not corrupt. He was nicknamed the "minister of the poor" because of his way of looking after the interests of people in low income.

Parliamentary elections are due on Monday despite the past week's clashes between protesters and security forces.

The Arab League has given Syria 24 hours to agree to allow an observer mission into the country or face sanctions. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo said that if Syria refused, the league's economic arm would meet on Saturday to vote on sanctions. These could include stopping flights to Syria and freezing the country's assets. However, the ministers stopped short of

endorsing

a call by the French foreign minister for humanitarian corridors to help aid reach civilians.