Egyptian caretaker Prime Minister Essam Sharaf inaugurated the first session of a national dialogue on Wednesday.

"National dialogue will decide our nation's future," said Sharaf in a televised speech before the talks.

The caretaker prime minister said the dialogue laid the ground for government management and decision making, saying that "I do not hope that the government would speak too much in the dialogue, leaving space and freedom to all Egyptian different parties without limits."

Yahia al-Gamal, the prime minister's senior aide who chaired the dialogue, said the purpose of the first session was to reach a common understanding for holding real talks among all political parties, civil societies, professions and labor unions.

Essam el-Erian, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, said "we couldn't reach reconciliation unless there are clear investigations and trails for the former regime's corrupted figures."

He added that there should be enough time before the next session to make better plans, preparations and new initiatives.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who has announced intention to run for the next presidential elections, described the dialogue as "positive" and called for reaching "national reconciliation" at the beginning of the meeting.

Three youth coalitions were invited, but they refused to attend, saying "most of the attendees were officials in the former ruling regime."