Egypt's government intensified its crackdown on protesters hours ahead of a new wave of demonstrations, disrupting communication lines across the country, arresting political leaders and deploying an elite counterterrorism squad in the capital.

The elite special operations unit spread out across Cairo at strategic locations such as Tahrir Square, which played host to the largest protests of the week so far.

Since Tuesday, protesters have taken to the streets in the capital and in several other cities to express their anger at the country's 82-year-old autocratic ruler, President Hosni Mubarak, who has governed the Middle East country for three decades.

The Muslim Brotherhood -- an illegal organization that is considered the best-organized opposition group in Egypt -- has expressed its support for the anti-government protests.

Early Friday morning, security forces took three of its leaders and two former Members of Parliament into custody, according to the group's lawyer, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud and spokesperson Walid Shalaby.

Many other members of the group had been arrested by security forces in Cairo and elsewhere overnight, they said.

Communication lines were down Thursday evening across the country, including Facebook, Twitter, cell phone text messaging, BlackBerry Messenger services and the Internet.

The government is bracing for a new round of mass protests Friday by Egyptians angry that Mubarak's regime has failed to do more to alleviate poverty in a country where 40 per cent of the population lives on less than $2 a day -- the dollar amount of the World Bank-determined poverty line.

Protesters are also angry about the rising cost of housing and food, unemployment, and widening income distribution gap within Egyptian society.

The government implemented new security measures hours after the former head of the UN's atomic agency returned to the country, saying he is seeking regime change in Cairo and intends to lead the opposition in its push for a new government.

Naubel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei told reporters that Mubarak's regime is not responding to the will of the people.

"The regime has not been listening," said ElBaradei, a pro-democracy advocate and former Egyptian diplomat who previously served three terms as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"If people, in particular young people, if they want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down. My priority right now ... is to see a new regime and to see a new Egypt through peaceful transition."

Protests outside the capital turned violent on Thursday. In Suez, along the Suez Canal, demonstrators burned a fire station, stole weapons and turned on police, injuring more than 90 officers according to the Interior Ministry. The number of injured protesters was difficult to pin down.

In the northern Sinai, hundreds of Bedouins exchanged gunfire with police. A 17-year-old was killed in the clashes, his shooting caught on video. Demonstrators also shot two rocket-propelled grenades at a police station they had surrounded.

Since the anti-government protests began, at least six people have died and hundreds have been injured. Nearly 1,000 people have been detained. Riot police have routinely used tear gas, batons and brute force to break up crowds of protesters. In turn, the Egyptian government has banned all public gatherings.

ElBaradei has called for the Mubarak regime to exercise restraint with protesters who are urging a change in government.

The government's ruling party signalled Thursday that it was willing to open a dialogue with protesters, but National Democratic Party secretary general Safwat El-Sherif also said "the minority does not force its will on the majority."

While some smaller groups of protesters were spotted in Cairo and other Egyptian cities on Thursday, there will be an opportunity for larger scale protests tomorrow when millions of Egyptians attend Friday prayers at mosques in the capital city.

Ali Mikkawi, a Canadian resident who has been taking part in the recent demonstrations in Cairo, said the protesters will resume their activities in full force on Friday.

"What's going on right now is that people are having a day of relatively low turnout for demonstrations in preparation for tomorrow's great demonstration after the Friday prayer at noon in Cairo," Mikkawi told CTV News during a telephone interview from Cairo on Thursday.

Mikkawi said Egyptians have "had enough" of the Mubarak regime and its failings.

"This is a peaceful protest for the people of Egypt who have had enough of 30 years of oppression, of no services, of no services, of no equity, of no education," he said.

"People have now taken to the street to say to this regime: ‘Enough.' This is the time for them to leave."

Adel Iskander of the Egyptian Canadian Friendship Association said the government appears to have the situation under some level of control, though it should attempt to appease the protesters by acting on some of the issues that have angered members of the public.

"The regime has to find means and tools to handle this problem before it goes out of hand," Iskander said from Toronto on Thursday.

With files from The Associated Press