BBC's Jim Muir: "Vice-President Omar Suleiman has hinted if the protests go on much longer martial law might be brought in"
Anti-government protesters in Egypt are continuing their occupation of Cairo's Tahrir Square for a 16th day and have blocked the entrance to parliament.
There are reports of strikes and industrial unrest around the country.
Egyptian Vice-President Omar Suleiman has warned of the risk of a coup d'etat if constitutional reform efforts fail.
The US has called on the Egyptian government to lift its 30-year state of emergency and to stop harassing journalists and activists.
Hundreds of protesters are now blocking the entrance to the Egyptian parliament, several blocks away from Tahrir Square.
Government troops are protecting the building, and the protest is taking place peacefully.
At the scene
The road sign on People's Assembly Street, the address of the building housing Egypt's lower house of parliament, has been altered with a black marker pen. It now reads simply "People's Street".
The occupation of nearby Tahrir Square has been extended to the pavements here. Several hundred people are now massed outside the impressive white and gold building.
"Illegitimate," is the cry that goes up from one crowd as they shake their fists. Others have spread blankets on the ground and hung up plastic sheets to make a makeshift campsite.
While human chains of volunteers now inspect all those entering the street, there are soldiers with guns on duty behind the railings of the empty government buildings. Nevertheless the mood is peaceful.
The demonstrators may not have achieved one of their goals of dissolving parliament, but they have stopped it from carrying out its normal business.
At least one person has been killed in a clash between protesters and police in New Valley province, about 300 miles (500km) south of Cairo.
At the Suez Canal, the state-owned trade link between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, about 6,000 workers have gone on strike. A senior official quoted by Reuters news agency said the action would not affect the passage of ships.
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says there are reports of industrial unrest across the country.
On Tuesday night, Mr Suleiman said the crisis must end, adding: "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."
However, he warned that if dialogue with the protesters failed, the alternative was "that a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities".
Opposition groups reacted angrily to his remarks. They fear the government is stalling for time and will fail to enact meaningful changes.
Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of youth protest groups, accused Mr Suleiman of creating a "disastrous scenario", according to the Associated Press news agency.
"He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed," AP quoted Mr Samir as saying. "But what would he do with the rest of 70 million Egyptians who will follow us afterward?"
US responseUS Vice-President Joe Biden told Mr Suleiman in a phone call that the transition should produce "immediate, irreversible progress that responds to the aspirations of the Egyptian people".
Earlier, the White House described as "particularly unhelpful" comments by Mr Suleiman that the country was not ready for democracy.
The government has announced plans for a peaceful transition, with President Hosni Mubarak to stay in office until elections in September.
The protesters are continuing to call for Mr Mubarak to resign immediately.
Mr Biden has been phoning his Egyptian opposite number on an almost daily basis and his latest call is the toughest yet, says BBC North America editor Mark Mardell.
He adds that so far, the administration's repeated suggestions over the last week have been met largely by grudging commitments from the Egyptian authorities and little action.
The unrest over the last two weeks has seen fierce clashes with police, and pitched battles between protesters and Mubarak supporters.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers say they have confirmed the deaths of 297 people since 28 January, based on a count from eight hospitals in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.
No comprehensive death toll has been given by the Egyptian government.
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