Egyptian Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said amendments to disputed articles of the draft constitution could be agreed with the opposition ahead of a December 15 referendum and put in writing, calling for dialogue with opponents to end the crisis.

"There must be consensus," Mekky told a news conference. He expected a dialogue to begin soon, he said, adding the demands of opposition protesters must be respected. "There is real political will to pass the current period and respond to the demands of the public," Mekky said.

His comments came as Islamist supporters of Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi chased opposition protesters away from the presidential palace Wednesday. Thousands of Islamists rallied to the call of the Muslim Brotherhood, chanting "The people want to cleanse the square" of opposition demonstrators.

Supporters and opponents of Morsi have both called for protests on Wednesday outside the presidential palace, raising fears of a potential showdown as Egypt's crisis deepens.

The rallies at the Itihadiya palace, besieged Tuesday by Morsi opponents, are set to square Islamist pro-Morsi demonstrators against his secular-leaning opposition. The two groups until now have only held separate mass protests.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for the rally on Wednesday afternoon "to defend legitimacy after protesters yesterday thought they could impose their opinions through force," said the movement's spokesman Mahmud Ghozlan in a statement.

In the other camp, "it has been agreed, in coordination with the revolutionary forces, to have a protest outside the presidential palace. If the Muslim Brotherhood do not attack us, everything will be fine," said Mohamed Waked, a spokesman for the National Front for Justice and Democracy told AFP.

"If they do, we will hold Morsi responsible," he added.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Wednesday for an open and transparent dialogue in Egypt. "The upheaval we are seeing now once again in the streets of Cairo and other cities indicates that dialogue is urgently needed," Clinton said.

Morsi already returned to work in the presidential palace Wednesday morning after Egyptians had taken their protests against him to the gates of his palace, demanding his ouster in scenes not witnessed even during demonstrations that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Hundreds of protesters were still camped in front of the Itihadiya presidential palace Wednesday.

AFP - Reuters