Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is holding an emergency meeting with government officials to discuss ongoing clashes between protesters and security forces in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

The meeting is being attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ali El-Silmy, Interior Minister Mansour El-Eissawy and Tourism Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, along with the ministers of information and justice.

On Monday, popular protests continued in Tahrir Square – the epicentre of Egypt’s January revolution – and in the Suez, Alexandria, Ismailia, Assiut and Qena governorates.

At the ministers’ meeting, officials are expected to discuss means of containing the recent flare-up of violence – now in its third day – along with possible amendments to a controversial raft of government-proposed “supra-constitutional principles.”

The principles, unveiled late last month, were met with ire by the country’s post-revolution political forces and were the main reason behind Friday’s million-man Tahrir Square demonstration. Ministers are currently discussing possible modifications to the list of principles, including proposals by the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement.