Egypt's ruling military council, which took power when Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, said on Monday it had uncovered a plot to burn down parliament.

General Adel Emara, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, interrupted a live news conference to say that he had "received a call now to say that a plot was uncovered today to burn parliament and there are now large crowds in Tahrir Square ready to implement the plan."

Egypt's largest Islamist parties claimed the lead in the second round of a multi-stage legislative election, confirming them as them as front-runners in the first post-revolution parliament.

The second round of elections which took place in nine provinces over two days saw a 67 percent turnout, election commission chief Abdul Moez Ibrahim told reporters.

An explosion hit an Egyptian pipeline feeding gas to Israel and Jordan on Sunday in the 10th such attack this year, Egyptian security services said.

The blast struck south of the town of el-Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula and targeted a segment of pipeline which was gas-free as it was under repair.

The rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas began meeting in Cairo on Sunday to discuss ways of implementing a stalled reconciliation deal, an official said.

Delegates from the two factions met "to prepare for the comprehensive dialogue" which is to take place on Tuesday in the Egyptian capital, Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation told Agence France Presse.

Troops and protesters clashed Sunday in Cairo for the third straight day, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital.

At least 10 protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded in the three days of violence, according to the Health Ministry. Activists say most of the 10 fatalities died of gunshot wounds.

France on Saturday denounced what it termed the excessive use of force against protesters by Egyptian authorities after clashes in Cairo left nine people dead and about 300 wounded.

"France is worried about the violent incidents that have taken place on Tahrir Square in Cairo," a foreign ministry statement said, adding that Paris "denounces the violence and excessive use of force against protesters."

Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri on Saturday accused protesters who engaged in deadly clashes with security forces in Cairo a day earlier of being counter-revolutionaries.

"Those who are in Tahrir Square (epicenter of the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February) are not the youth of the revolution," Ganzuri told a press conference.

Violence raged in the administrative heart of Egypt's capital on Saturday as troops and police deployed in force after clashes with protesters against continued military rule left nine people dead.

Smoke billowed over Tahrir Square, the iconic focus of the protest movement that overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February, after two nearby government offices caught fire, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.

At least two people were killed on Friday and more than 170 hurt in clashes between Egyptian protesters and security forces, a health ministry official said, as the worst violence in weeks overshadowed the count in the second phase of a landmark general election.

"Two people died of gunshot wounds and 138 were wounded," said the official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

At the foot of the ancient Pyramids, tour guides and vendors are divided over the affects an Islamist-dominated parliament might have on the lucrative tourist industry.

Egyptians are voting Wednesday in the second-phase of three-round parliamentary elections -- the first since president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February -- that Islamic parties are expected to win hands down.