Thousands of protesters have staged a series of pro-reform demonstrations across Egypt in defiance of the government's warning.

Protesters demonstrated in Cairo, Alexandria and at a Nile Delta university, but large numbers of police officers stopped the participants from reaching the parliament, their main target.

About 400 protesters, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, walked about 1.5km across Cairo from the police cordon at parliament to the Press Syndicate, where they chanted slogans against President Husni Mubarak on the building's steps.

"Enough, enough," they sang, using a familiar opposition refrain against a new term for the veteran Egyptian leader, who has been in office since 1981. "Leave!" the crowd chanted.

"The one who bars demonstrators should face the fate of Sadat," was another chant, referring to the 1981 assassination of president Anwar al-Sadat.

'No to Mubarak'

About 2000 students demonstrated at Mansura University in the Nile Delta. Groups of police barred them from leaving the campus.

About 500 students protested in Alexandria University but were also confined to the campus.

In central Alexandria's Menshiya Square, about 300 people took part in a demonstration, carrying banners reading: "No to corruption. No to unemployment. No to Mubarak," according to protester Wafa al-Masri.

Two members of the Kifaya, or Enough, movement were detained in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Police confirmed the detentions without elaborating.

The protesters took to the streets despite a warning by director of Cairo police Maj-Gen Nabil al-Izabi on Tuesday that the police would strictly enforce the emergency laws that forbid unauthorized protests.

PHOTO CAPTION

Egyptian demonstrators march during a demonstration against a fifth six-year term for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Wednesday, March 30, 2005 in downtown Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian flag to right and banner reads: ' No for Mubarak, enough'. (AP)