CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt's military rulers agreed on Saturday to amend a controversial electoral law following threats of a poll boycott by dozens of political parties, a military source told AFP.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power when President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, agreed to amend the new law to allow political parties to field candidates in the one-third of seats that had previously been reserved for independent candidates.

The decision came after a meeting between military chief of staff Sami Enan and members of the Democratic Coalition, which groups dozens of political groups, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the liberal Wafd party.

Those at the meeting - and dozens more groups - had objected to Article 5, which stipulates that two-thirds of seats would be on a party list system and the rest for independents.

On Thursday they threatened a vote boycott unless the controversial article was cancelled, throwing into question the credibility of Egypt's first post-Mubarak polls.

They also demand the activation of a law that would ban corrupt politicians from running for office for 10 years.