Former British prime minister Tony Blair says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood should be treated with caution.

Mr Blair, now a Middle East peace envoy, says he fears immediate elections in Egypt could bring the banned opposition group to power.

Thousands of Egyptians have rallied in the streets for nearly two weeks, calling on Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down.

The protests turned violent and more than 100 were killed after pro- and anti-government rioters started attacking each other with homemade bombs and stones.

The government is holding talks with the Muslim Brotherhood, but Mr Blair says the group could plunge Egypt into religious extremism.

"If you read the program of the Muslim Brotherhood there are things that certainly people in our type of way of life would find pretty strange," he said.

"Egypt's got everything to gain from opening up its economy and having its society open and so on.

"The last thing it needs is to go into a form of narrow religious exclusivity."

Talks held between vice-president Omar Suleiman and opposition groups produced concessions from the government but failed to break the impasse by protesters.

Mr Suleiman said the meetings had produced a road map for continuing talks and he announced a number of agreements, including the formation of a committee of judges and politicians to study and propose constitutional amendments and laws to allow for reform.

The government also agreed to open an office for complaints about the treatment of political prisoners, to loosen control of the media and to lift the state of emergency.

- ABC/wires

Editor's note: This story has been amended to clarify that Mr Blair was voicing concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood, not explicit support for Hosni Mubarak.