Several thousand members of the Muslim Brotherhood, staging public demonstrations in Cairo, have called for constitutional reforms and for lifting of restrictive emergency laws. The main demonstration, consisting of 1000 people according to authorities and 3000 according to organisers, took place on Sunday at the central Ramses Square after tight security measures prevented them from getting to parliament. Two other gatherings, involving 200 to 300 people each, also took place on Sunday, but in the central Bab al-Luk and Sayyida Zainab districts, authorities said.Street demonstrations are banned in Egypt thanks to emergency laws that have been in place since President Anwar al-Sadat's assassination in 1981. "End the state of emergency," demonstrators shouted, calling also for "opposition to American interference" in Egyptian affairs and "more constitutional reforms". Commenting on the arrests of about 100 protesters, Dr Isam al-Aryan - a key member of the banned group - told Aljazeera that none had been charged, but that nevertheless they should have been allowed to demonstrate. "The detainees were unionists, professionals, academics, and social figures who were calling for freedom and they should not have been detained", Al-Aryan said.