Egypt is preparing to head to the polls for the opening stage of the first elections since former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. Thousands of protesters continue to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square, the hub of the uprising that unseated him. They are demanding that the military council that replaced him hand power to a civilian government. The council's head has warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the country does not overcome its crisis. "Egypt is at a crossroads," Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi said in a statement on Sunday. "Either we succeed - politically, economically and socially - or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that." He urged top presidential candidates Mohammed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa to give their support to his nomination for prime minister, 78-year-old Kamal Ganzouri. Monday is the first step in an election timetable which lasts until March 2012 and covers two houses of parliament. The first stage, running until January, covers elections to the 508-member People's Assembly. Monday also marks the 10th day of a revival of the protest movement. At least 41 protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded, most of them in Cairo. The protesters fear the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) - which is headed by Field Marshall Tantawi and is overseeing the transition to democratic rule - is trying to retain power. "We reject any resolution taken by the military council - except for the handover of power to an authority that we approve. Then we will be making the decisions in Egyptian politics," said protester Samira Hosni. Mass demonstrations - in Cairo and beyond - had called for military rule to end before parliamentary elections were held. There have also been smaller gatherings expressing support for the country's interim military rulers. Meanwhile, a pipeline in Egypt which supplies Israel and Jordan with natural gas has been attacked by saboteurs, Egypt's Mena state news agency said. Witnesses reported seeing masked men driving away from the pipeline, close to the town of Arish, before two blasts were heard. It is the ninth such attack on the pipeline this year. 'Dangerous hurdles' Field Marshall Tantawi said the army would ensure security at the polling booths and reiterated that the vote would go ahead on schedule despite the protests. Analysts say the vote is almost certain to proceed, but the voting procedure is complex and there has been little time for campaigning, so it is unclear how many people will cast ballots. On Saturday, Field Marshall Tantawi held talks with leading political figures Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa to discuss the political crisis. The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says the man that the military council has nominated as prime minister, Kamal Ganzouri, has not gained traction or widespread support. Aged 78, he looked every one of his years at a recent news conference and is seen as a Mubarak-era figure, our correspondent says. But Mr ElBaradei - who has said he would be prepared to lead a national government until a president could be appointed - and Mr Moussa are powerful political figures who would challenge the power of the army, our correspondent says. By naming Mr Ganzouri as prime minister, Field Marshall Tantawi is clearly trying to head off that threat, according to the BBC correspondent.