* Euro, Aussie dollar fell earlier on jitters over Egypt

  * Gains in commodities lend Aussie support

  * Analysts say Egypt unrest could be repeated elsewhere

  By Hideyuki Sano

  TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The euro steadied against the dollar on Monday as moves to exit riskier positions tapered off, although market players remained wary of the risk that unrest in Egypt could spread across the Middle East.

  The Australian dollar also pared its earlier losses, supported by renewed gains in commodities. [ID:nL3E7CV07L]

  However, as street protests in Cairo showed no sign of abating, investors remain worried that political upheaval could hit other Arab countries, potentially disrupting oil production and heightening diplomatic tensions in the region.

  " This will not be limited to Tunisia and Egypt. This could spread to other countries, which could make the whole Middle East unstable," said Mitsuru Saito, chief economist at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

  The euro < EUR=> was little changed from late U.S. trade on Friday at $1.3615 < EUR=> , after bouncing from an intraday low of $1.3570 hit on trading platform EBS.

  The high-yielding and commodities-linked Australian dollar was steady at $0.9944 < AUD=D4> , well above its intraday low of $0.9866.

  The Australian dollar had dipped close to support at $0.9860, the base of the daily Ichimoku cloud and also at around $0.9855, its 100-day moving average, before bouncing back.

  " Any worsening in fears over stability in the Middle East would further dampen risk appetite, providing support for safe haven currencies like the U.S. dollar, Swiss franc and yen," said Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones.

  Egyptian protesters were camped out in central Cairo on Monday and vowed to stay until they had toppled President Hosni Mubarak. [ID:nLDE70U00B]

  The dollar dipped 0.2 percent against the yen to 81.97 yen < JPY=> and dipped 0.1 percent against the Swiss franc to 0.9410 franc < CHF=> .

  " It's a no-win situation. If Mubarak stays in power you're going to have a lot of turbulence and turmoil and demonstrations," said Andrew Brenner, head of emerging markets fixed income, Guggenheim Securities in New York.

  " If Mubarak steps down, you're going to have a continued move to fundamentalists," he added.

  SPREADING UNREST

  Some investors fear that what's happening in Egypt could be repeated elsewhere, which could threaten their investments in many emerging markets -- one of the most lucrative strategies last year.

  " Behind the unrest is anger against inflation, which is hurting many people in developing countries. The trouble is, that is also happening in countries like India and China, too," said Tokai Tokyo Securities' Saito.

  " A flood of money created in the developed world has been flowing to emerging markets. But if those markets turn out to be politically unstable, that money flow will drastically change."

  Market players are also aware that selling in some emerging market bonds could escalate to a self-feeding spiral, much like in 2008, when investors had to sell many risky assets to cover losses elsewhere.

  " That's what we saw all back on in '08. You had money managers, you had margin calls on certain things and they would sell other things. That's what's going on and I think that's what we're going to see for the next few days. Flight to quality and the dollar should benefit from it." said Guggenheim's Brenner.

  Gulf stock markets tumbled on Sunday as investors, rattled by turmoil in Egypt and concerns the unrest may spread, quit their positions to push indices to multi-week lows.

  The Egyptian crisis is seen as having the potential to overshadow broader and more fundamental economic events this week, which include a slew of economic data such as U.S. non-farm payrolls and central bank decisions. (Additional reporting by Burton Frierson in New York, Gyles Beckford in Wellington, Masayuki Kitano in Singapore and Reuters FX analyst Krishna Kumar in Sydney Editing by Kim Coghill)

* Hang Seng Index down 1.1 pct, tracking Asian markets lower

  * Shanghai outperforms, up 1 percent, gold counters rebound

  * Egypt fears accelerate emerging market losses

  * PetroChina, Sinopec outperform as oil prices climb (Updates to midday)

  By Vikram S.Subhedar and Chen Yixin

  HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Shares in Hong Kong fell on Monday morning as investors dumped risky assets, in particular emerging market equities, with the cautious sentiment of the past two weeks mounting amid social unrest in Egypt.

  Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.1 percent by the midday trading break, extending losses since mid-January that have nearly wiped out the gains it saw at the beginning of the year.

  The decline came in thin volume, suggesting that this was a paring of risky positions ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday rather than a selloff. Turnover by midday was less than HK$38 billion.

  Asian markets were lower as oil prices rose on fears that unrest in Egypt could spread throughout the Middle East.

  Bucking the broader weaker trend, oil majors rose as crude oil prices climbed, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) rose 3.1 percent and PetroChina Co Ltd gained 1 percent.

  A trader at a large European bank in Hong Kong said momentum players, those that base trades on market trends, were chasing a rotation out of CNOOC Ltd and into Sinopec, which rose in heavy volume.

  CNOOC fell 2.3 percent extending Friday's 7 percent drop on the back of its conservative production forecast for 2011.

  Financial issues were weaker, with heavyweight HSBC Holdings Plc down 2 percent and the biggest drag on the broader market. Rival Standard Chartered Plc fell 2.1 percent.

  The Hang Seng Index is up 1.3 percent so far this year after slipping more than 4 percent from a Jan.19 high of 24,434.4, weighed down in part by a weak mainland market.

  SHANGHAI UP

  Chinese shares rose, underpinned by selective buying seen supported by government incentives.

  Some analysts said uncertainty over monetary policies during the Lunar New Year holiday continued to hang over the market. People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in comments published on Monday that China may rise bank reserve requirements further to counter rapid capital inflows.

  The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 1 percent so far this month on a shortfall of cash in the domestic money market and investor caution over monetary policy.

  By midday, the index was at 2,780.1, extending last week's 1.4 percent rise.

  " This rise may reflect investor optimism about the market," said Cao Xuefeng head of research at Huaxi Securities in Chengdu. " The index is likely to rise after the Lunar New Year holiday as it has ignored the impact of the global market."

  Investors are normally wary of taking big bets ahead of the week-long holiday, concerned about uncertainties in global markets, but the Shanghai index seems to have so far defied any negative impact from U.S. stocks, which dropped to a near six-month low.

  Gold issues outperformed as gold futures edged higher on Monday, extending gains seen in the previous session as buying continued on fears of more unrest in Egypt.

  Henan Yuguang Gold & Lead Co Ltd rose 7.9 percent, while Zhongjin Gold Corp Ltd was up 3.5 percent.

  Water companies also performed well after a report said investment in water conservation projects would be expanded to 4 trillion yuan ($608 billion).

  Qian Jiang Water Resources Development Co Ltd and Chongqing Three Gorges Water Conservancy and Electric Power both jumped by the 10 percent daily limit. (Editing by Chris Lewis)

BEIJING, Jan 31 (Reuters) - After many years of heated debate, China launched a long-awaited home ownership tax last week, levying it at first on a trial basis in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing.

  Too small to be effective in curbing rampant property inflation, critics say. A crucial first step that demonstrates the government's resolve, say supporters.

 

  Following are questions and answers about the property tax and China's broader efforts to cool the real estate market:

 

  HOW BIG IS THE PROPERTY TAX AND WHAT IS THE IMPACT?

  The annual property tax rate varies, from 0.4-0.6 percent in Shanghai and 0.5-1.2 percent in Chongqing. The level depends on the purchase price of homes, a graduated system that the government says will help even out income distribution.

  But as the tax will mainly be levied on second properties purchased after it came into effect, only a tiny portion of home owners will be affected.

  Fang Yan, a property analyst at Guosen Securities in Shenzhen, estimated that it will cover only 1.8 percent of homes in Chongqing.

  " It will not have much of an impact," said Chen Xiaotian, head of research at China Real Estate Information Corp in Shanghai.

  As an example, he said that a family of three, typical in China, which owns multiple home units totalling 240 square meters at an average price of 25,000 yuan per square metre, will only need to pay 4,200 yuan a year.

  Even officials are trying to downplay expectations.

  " It's impossible that the property tax will suddenly sink high housing prices. But it will rein in speculation," Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, said.

 

  COULD THE TAX BACKFIRE?

  Some market watchers worry that the tax trial will spur a wave of property speculation in other cities. Families may frontload home purchases before the tax is implemented elsewhere -- exactly what people did in Shanghai, pushing up property transactions and prices.

  Seven of 10 property firms and analysts polled by Reuters after the tax was announced forecast that property prices would rise moderately in China this year, while just three predicted an outright fall.

  But the government has taken steps to inoculate the market against a pre-tax surge. The day before the tax trials were launched, the cabinet announced a new package of tightening measures, including higher mandatory downpayment and stricter purchase taxes.

  These measures were in fact much harsher than the property tax, even though the property tax attracted more attention, analysts said.

  Policy tone is almost as important as actual policy in China, and the government has made clear that it will not let up in its efforts to quell speculation this year, even as global economic uncertainties remain serious.

 

  WHEN WILL THE PROPERTY TAX SPREAD TO OTHER CITIES?

  China is likely to wait about a year before expanding the property tax trial to other cities.

  The government's reform hallmark in the past three decades has been the deliberate introduction of policies, whether on free trade or capital account liberalisation, seeing how the rules work on the ground in a few specific areas before applying them to the whole country.

  In a joint statement last week, the finance ministry, housing ministry and the taxation bureau said that China would sum up lessons learnt from the trials and map out a plan to take the tax nationwide at an appropriate time.

  The risk is that speculation and front-loaded home purchases lead housing prices to sky-rocket in other cities, forcing an earlier-than-expected and perhaps messier introduction of the property tax.

  " If housing prices surge, the property tax will be adopted right away," said Li Wei, a researcher at Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai.

 

  WHAT OTHER STEPS WILL CHINA TAKE TO CURB HOUSING INFLATION?

  The focus of the next three months or so will be on the implementation of the package of measures, including the tax, announced last week.

  Target ting broader inflation, the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates, though increases will be small -- not enough to have a big impact on the housing market.

  If the impact of the latest property tightening wanes and home prices show signs of rebounding, China still has many cards to play.

  For example, China could increase the capital gains tax on property sales and extend the ownership period required for tax exemption, said James McDonald, head of China research at global real estate agency Savills in Shanghai.

  The government also has plenty of room to require higher downpayments on first home purchases and could nudge the rate higher still on second homes. (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Simon Rabinovitch Editing by Ken Wills and Alex Richardson)

By Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh

  CAIRO (Reuters) - President Hosni Mubarak, clinging on despite mass popular demands for an end to his 30-year rule, met on Sunday with the generals who may hold the keys to Egypt's future, but in Cairo protesters defied a curfew.

  As his key ally the United States called for an " orderly transition," Mubarak's disparate opponents, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, rallied behind retired international diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei to lead possible talks with the army on organising a handover of power to a national unity coalition.

  " I ask of you patience, change is coming in the next few days," Baradei told thousands of demonstrators on Cairo's Tahrir Square after dark. " You have taken back your rights and what we have begun, cannot go back."

  He added: " We have one main demand -- the end of the regime and the beginning of a new stage, a new Egypt."

  " The people want the regime to fall!" thousands chanted as troops looked on patiently from their U.S.-built battle tanks.

  Baradei, 68, won a Nobel peace prize as head of the United Nations' nuclear body. Though little known to many Egyptians, he had hoped to run in a presidential election in September.

  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fox News: " We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void.

  " We also don't want to see some takeover that would lead not to democracy but to oppression and the end of the aspirations of the Egyptian people."

  For a week, since Egyptians inspired by the overthrow of the ageing strongman in Tunisia began a push for change, it has been unclear who might emerge as an alternative to Mubarak and, more widely, to the military class which has run Egypt since 1952.

  MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

  A senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, the banned Islamist group that has long seemed the strongest single force against Mubarak, said it backed ElBaradei as negotiator.

  The Brotherhood has stayed in the background although several of its senior officials have been rounded up. The government has accused it of planning to exploit the protests.

  Some of its leaders walked free from jails on Sunday.

  As many as 10,000 people protested in Tahrir Square, a rallying point in the centre of Cairo, to express anger at poverty, repression, unemployment and corruption -- themes that are rumbling across the Arab world after first Tunisia and now the most populous Arab state Egypt have been plunged in unrest.

  As the curfew started and was ignored, warplanes and helicopters flew over the square. By late afternoon more army trucks appeared in a show of military force but no one moved.

  " Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, both of you are agents of the Americans," shouted protesters, referring to the appointment on Saturday of intelligence chief Suleiman as vice president, the first time Mubarak has appointed a deputy in 30 years of office.

  It was the position Mubarak, 82, held before he become president and many saw the appointment as ending his son Gamal's long-predicted ambitions to take over and as an attempt to reshape the administration to placate reformists.

  Mubarak held talks with Suleiman, Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Chief of Staff Sami al-Anan and others.

  Clearly those in Tahrir Square did not wish to see Mubarak's ruling structure replaced by a military line-up featuring his closest associates. " Mubarak, Mubarak, the plane awaits," they said. There was also a big protest in Alexandria.

  SHOCKWAVES AROUND MIDDLE EAST

  The turmoil, in which more than 100 people have died, has sent shock waves through the Middle East where other autocratic rulers may face similar challenges, and unsettled financial markets around the globe as well as Egypt's allies in the West.

  In Tunisia, the detonator of the regional movement, an exiled Islamist leader was welcomed home by thousands on Sunday. In Sudan, Egypt's southern neighbour, police beat and arrested students taking part in anti-government protests in Khartoum.

  In Egypt, the military response to the crisis has been ambivalent. Troops now guard key buildings after police lost control of the streets, but have neglected to enforce a curfew, often fraternising with protesters rather than confronting them.

  It remains to be seen if the armed forces will keep Mubarak in power, or decide he is a liability to Egypt's national interests, and their own. It was also unclear if Mubarak had decided to talk with the generals or if he was summoned by them.

  It was Tunisian generals who persuaded former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee last month after weeks of protests.

  In Suez, on the canal, one senior local officer, Brigadier Atef Said said his troops would give protesters a free voice:

  " We will allow protests in the coming days," he told Reuters. " Everyone has the right to voice their opinion."

  The crisis deepened on Sunday after police had disappeared from the streets. Egyptians faced lawlessness on the streets with security forces and citizens trying to stop looters.

  Through the night into Sunday, Cairo residents armed with clubs, chains and knives formed vigilante groups to guard neighbourhoods from marauders after the unpopular police force withdrew following the deadly clashes with protesters.

  Security sources said police would be back on Monday.

  TANKS SPRAYED WITH SLOGANS

  In surreal scenes, soldiers from Mubarak's army stood by tanks covered in anti-Mubarak graffiti: " Down with Mubarak. Down with the despot. Down with the traitor. Pharaoh out of Egypt."

  Asked how they could let people scrawl anti-Mubarak slogans on their mostly American-made vehicles, one soldier said: " These are written by the people, it's the views of the people."

  Egypt's armed forces -- the world's 10th biggest and more than 468,000-strong -- have been at the heart of power since army officers staged the 1952 overthrow of the king. It benefits from about $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military aid.

  The army appears to be showing restraint and there is no talk at this time about halting U.S. aid to Egypt, Clinton said.

  The government has interfered with Internet access and mobile phone signals to try and disrupt demonstrators' plans.

  On Sunday, it ordered pan-Arab channel Al Jazeera to shut down and cut off its local broadcasts.

  The tumult was affecting Egypt's tourist industry and the United States and Turkey said they were offering evacuation flights Other governments advised people to leave Egypt.

  The United States and European powers were busy reworking their Middle East policies, which have supported Mubarak, turning a blind eye to police brutality and corruption in return for a bulwark against first communism and now militant Islam.

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was closely watching events in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979.

  " This is the Arab world's Berlin moment," said Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics, comparing the events to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. " The authoritarian wall has fallen, and that's regardless of whether Mubarak survives."

  (Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed, Sherine El Madany, Yasmine Saleh, Alison Williams and Samia Nakhoul in Cairo, Alexander Dziadosz in Suez, Arshad Mohammed in Washington and Peter Apps, Angus MacSwan and William Maclean in London Writing by Peter Millership, editing by Alastair Macdonald)

(adds background para 13, 14)

  LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - OPEC ministers will discuss oil output policy on the sidelines of an international energy conference in Saudi Arabia on February 22, an OPEC delegate said.

  The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is under pressure to raise output and rein in oil prices now near $100 a barrel.

  Energy ministers from OPEC are scheduled to gather on Feb. 22 in Riyadh with their counterparts from oil consuming nations and consumer body the International Energy Agency at the International Energy Forum.

  " All the OPEC ministers will be in Riyadh during that time, so this would be a chance to discuss the situation in the market," the OPEC delegate who declined to be named told Reuters.

  OPEC's next scheduled meeting is not until June but the producer group has shown in the past that it is flexible enough to set policy at short-notice when necessary.

  It is not yet clear whether the Riyadh meeting will set policy or not. Ministers could decide to call an emergency meeting before June.

  Brent oil prices hit a 28-month peak on Friday, nearing $100 a barrel while U.S. crude surged more than 4 percent as anti-government protests in Egypt -- which is not an OPEC member -- rattled markets.

  " Before taking any action, we need to wait for Egypt to settle down because its too early to say what will happen at this point," said the delegate.

  OPEC ministers blame speculators for the rise in oil prices and say global inventories are plentiful. " Stocks are still plentiful," said the OPEC delegate.

  But most oil analysts say prices are rising to ration demand as the West emerges from recession and as emerging markets growth continues apace.

  Saudi Arabia is already pumping a little above its official 8.05 million barrel a day OPEC allocation with a Reuters survey estimating output last month at an average 8.33 million bpd.

  The OPEC delegate said current Saudi output was 8.4 million bpd.

  OPEC has not changed oil output quotas since cutting supplies sharply more than two years ago to combat a drop in demand when recession hit economies globally.

  Oil prices slumped from a record $147 a barrel in mid 2008 to just over $33 late that year.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar's role as a reserve currency will diminish in the coming years as Asian economies like China grow and countries seek to diversify their monetary holdings, policymakers said on Friday.

  The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy of quantitative easing -- essentially printing money -- and a call by France to look at ways to wean the world off the dollar as the sole reserve money have put the U.S. currency in the spotlight.

  " I'm more optimistic about the euro gaining strength as a potential reserve currency," Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said during a panel discussion at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

  " We ourselves are diversifying into currencies which we would never have put in the reserves before, including the Australian dollar and so forth," he added. " I think people will diversify their reserves."

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to rally the Group of 20 powers to the idea of a more varied monetary system after decades of the dollar being the world's reserve currency and a major unit of international trade settlement.

  The dollar debate comes at a time when many countries are tempted to let their currency drop to promote exports and growth after the worst downturn since World War Two, even if that can be at each others' expense.

  Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Fischer anticipated that, in the long run, Asian monies would have a greater role as reserve currencies.

  " I agree with Stan (Fischer) that over time there will be more of a multi-polar system. Other currencies will play a central role in reserves," he said. " The (Chinese) renminbi, over time, should have a role as a reserve currency."

  Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek saw the United States' quantitative easing policy leading to a diversification of reserve holdings.

  " If the U.S. continues the way it is ... certainly countries will look for alternatives because you can't print so much money and expect no consequences," he said.

  " Ultimately the centre of gravity is shifting towards the East," Simsek added. " Certainly, 10 years from now there could be a very different landscape." (Reporting by Paul Carrel editing by Mark Heinrich)

By Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday urged an orderly transition to democracy in Egypt to avoid creating a power vacuum but stopped short of calling on embattled President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

  Appearing on a slew of news programs, Clinton pressed Mubarak to ensure that the coming elections are free and fair and to live up to his promises of reform but insisted Egypt must avoid a result like that of Iran, which she called a " faux democracy."

  Clinton kept up the Obama administration's cautious balancing act. Washington is trying to avoid abandoning Mubarak -- a strategic ally of 30 years -- while supporting protesters who seek broader rights and demand his ouster.

  While Clinton repeatedly dodged questions about whether Mubarak should resign due to the political upheaval threatening his long autocratic rule, her call for democratic transition marked the furthest the Obama administration has gone so far in distancing itself from him.

  " We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void, that there not be a void, that there be a well thought out plan that will bring about a democratic participatory government," Clinton told " Fox News Sunday" on the sixth day of mass protests against Mubarak's long autocratic rule.

  " We also don't want to see some takeover that would lead not to democracy but to oppression and the end of the aspirations of the Egyptian people." she said.

  Clinton said the United States wants to avoid a situation that would allow " radicals, extremists, violent elements to take over." U.S. officials fear any power vacuum might give Islamists a chance to make inroads in a future government.

  Even as President Barack Obama and his aides have taken a more assertive stance, Clinton signalled, however, that the administration was not ready to use its most tangible leverage with Cairo -- the $1.5 billion in annual U.S. aid, the vast majority of which is for the military.

  " There is no discussion as of this time about cutting off aid," she told ABC's " This Week," though she quickly added " we always are looking (at) and reviewing our aid."

  The U.S. administration was caught off guard by the political upheaval that has rocked the Middle East in recent days, from Egypt to Tunisia to Lebanon to Yemen, and is now scrambling to craft a sound strategy.

  As Clinton hewed to the administration's restrained message, saying there were " no easy answers" to the Egyptian crisis, Senator John McCain, a leading Republican voice on foreign policy, urged Obama to " get a little bit more out ahead" of the unfolding developments.

  " Lay out a scenario of what we think the Egyptian people should have every right to expect," McCain said, such as Mubarak turning over his government to a caretaker leader and not running again for president, and setting up a process for free elections in September.

  " We've got to be on the right side of history here," McCain told CNN's " State of the Union" program.

  Egyptian opposition figure Mohammed Elbaradei told CNN: " It's is better for President Obama not to appear that he is the last one to say to President Mubarak 'It's time for you to go'."

  ELECTIONS AS CRITICAL JUNCTURE

  Clinton identified Egypt's presidential elections set for September as a critical juncture. " We want to see free and fair elections and we suspect that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in Egypt right now," Clinton told NBC's " Meet the Press."

  Clinton said Egypt's military -- which Mubarak called to the streets to quell unrest and seems to hold the key his government's fate -- appeared to be showing restraint against peaceful protesters while instead trying to control looting.

  She also said on ABC that Mubarak's appointment on Saturday of intelligence chief and confidant Omar Suleiman as vice president marked the " bare beginning" of political reform, but insisted that much more needed to be done.

  Clinton said the administration did not want to see " chaos" in Egypt and acknowledged that Mubarak and his government had been an important partner over the years in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and the fight against terrorism.

  She declined to repeat her earlier comments that Mubarak's government was stable, saying on NBC's " Meet the Press," " I'm not going to get into either/or choices."

  And she refused to be drawn out on whether Mubarak should remain in power. " This is going to be up to the Egyptian people," she told CNN. " We're not advocating any specific outcome. We are advocating that the government, the representatives of the civil society, the political opposition and activists, begin a dialogue to chart a course."

  Egypt's crisis poses a dilemma for the United States. Mubarak, 82, has been a close partner of Washington for decades and has cited the danger of Islamic militancy in part as justification for his long autocratic rule.

  Egypt plays an important role in Middle East peacemaking -- it was the first of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel -- and is also seen by Washington as a crucial counterweight to Iran's regional clout. But human rights groups have accused successive U.S. administrations of being too tolerant of Egyptian rights abuses.

  From the U.S. perspective, the worst-case scenario in Egypt's crisis would be the rise of an Islamist government potentially aligned with Iran. But so far there has been no sign of Muslim fundamentalism driving the protest movement.

  (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Eric Beech, Steve Holland and Will Dunham, Editing by Jackie Frank)

By Jason Benham and Jeremy Clarke

  JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan almost unanimously voted to declare independence from the north in a referendum, officials said on Sunday, sparking mass celebrations in the southern capital Juba.

  Thousands cheered, danced and ululated after officials announced the first official preliminary results which overall showed a 98.83 percent majority for separation, according to the vote's website.

  " This is what we voted for, so that people can be free in their own country ... I say congratulations a million times," south Sudan President Salva Kiir told the crowd.

  The vote was promised in a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of north-south conflict, Africa's longest civil war, which cost an estimated 2 million lives.

  Kiir, the head of the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), praised his former foe, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for agreeing to the 2005 accord.

  " Omar al-Bashir took the bold decision to bring peace. Bashir is a champion and we must stand with him," said Kiir, speaking in a mixture of English and the local Arabic dialect.

  " The project has not finished ... We cannot declare independence today," he added.

  According to the terms of the accord, south Sudan will be able to declare independence on July 9, pending any legal challenges to the results.

  UNRESOLVED ISSUES

  Northern and southern leaders still have to agree on their shared border, how they will split oil revenues after secession and the ownership of the disputed Abyei region.

  " I am so happy. Imagine having schools, no fear, no war. Imagine feeling like any other people in their own country," student Santino Anei, 19, told Reuters.

  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the peaceful vote but told an African Union summit in Addis Ababa he was still concerned about the unresolved issues.

  Washington's Sudan envoy Scott Gration told Reuters at the summit the " tough part" of the peace deal was still to come.

  " These issues, whether it be borders or citizenship or oil revenues, cannot be solved unless there is an effort (by north and south) to work together in a partnership," he said.

  Secession campaigners described the vote as a chance to end years of perceived northern exploitation. Bashir, who campaigned for unity, later announced he would accept a separation vote.

  Chan Reek Madut, the deputy head of the referendum commission, told the crowd 99.57 percent of voters in the 10 states of south Sudan voted for independence.

  Commission spokesman George Makuer said the 98.83 percent figure published on the website included votes from southerners in north Sudan and eight other countries.

  Makuer said the final figure was still subject to a final tally and last minute legal challenges. " But it will not change, maybe by a few decimal points."

  Overall, the website showed almost 3.8 million votes for separation and 44,888 votes for continued unity. Final results are due out in early February.

  (Additional reporting by Richard Lough and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa Writing by Andrew Heavens editing by Michael Roddy)