Egypt’s new government got down to work Wednesday faced with a raft of daunting challenges including restoring security, as angry loyalists of ousted President Mohammad Mursi rallied against the caretaker administration.

Egypt's new government got down to work Wednesday faced with a raft of daunting challenges including restoring security, as angry loyalists of ousted President Mohammad Mursi rallied against the caretaker administration.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered just a few hundred meters (yards) from the cabinet headquarters, near Cairo's Tahrir Square, shouting anti-government slogans and waving banners, AFP reported, indicating that the protests were expected to reach their peak after the iftar.

The demonstration came as EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton began a series of meetings in Cairo with Egypt's new leaders, including Interim President Adly Mansour and Vice President Mohammad El-Baradei.

Spokesman Michael Mann described Ashton's meeting with Mansour as "good and useful".

In the talks, Ashton said the EU wanted "a quick return to the democratic process, and a full inclusive process," Mann told AFP.

Ashton had also stressed the need to get the economy going "as quickly as possible."

Diplomatic sources said she was expected to meet members of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party later on Wednesday.