 * Rival factions hurl petrol bombs, stones outside palace 
 
 * Clinton calls for dialogue on contested constitution 
 
 * Vice president offers olive branch to opposition 
 
 By Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad 
 
 CAIRO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation. Stones and petrol bombs flew between opposition protesters and supporters of President Mohamed Mursi who had flocked to the palace in response to a call from the Muslim Brotherhood. Medical sources said 211 people were wounded, some with gunshot wounds. Bidding to end the worst crisis since Mursi took office less than six months ago, Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said amendments to disputed articles in the constitution could be agreed with the opposition. A written agreement could then be submitted to the next parliament, to be elected after a referendum on the constitution on Dec. 15. "There must be consensus," he told a news conference inside the presidential palace as fighting raged outside on Wednesday evening, saying opposition demands had to be respected. But Mursi has shown no sign of buckling under pressure from protestors, confident that the Islamists, who have dominated both elections since Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, can win the referendum and parliamentary election to follow. Egypt's opposition coalition blamed Mursi for the violence around his palace and said it was ready for dialogue if the Islamist leader scrapped a decree he issued on Nov. 22 that gave him wide powers and shielded his decisions from judicial review. POLARISATION 
 
 "We are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled ... and the referendum on this constitution is postponed," he said of the document written by an Islamist-led assembly that the opposition says ignores its concerns. "Today what is happening in the Egyptian street, polarization and division, is something that could and is actually drawing us to violence and could draw us to something worse," opposition coordinator Mohamed ElBaradei said on Wednesday. 'REAL DANGER' 
 
 Opposition leaders have previously urged Mursi to retract the decree, defer the referendum and agree to revise the constitution, but have not echoed calls from street protesters for his overthrow and the "downfall of the regime". Mursi has said his decree was needed to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt's political transition. Mekky said street mobilisation by both sides posed a "real danger" to Egypt. "If we do not put a stop to this phenomenon right away ... where are we headed? PROTESTS SPREAD 
 
 Prime Minister Hisham Kandil called for calm to "give the opportunity" for efforts underway to start a national dialogue. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed into Egypt's political debate, saying dialogue was urgently needed on the new constitution, which should "respect the rights of all citizens". DIALOGUE 
 
 Clinton and Mursi worked together last month to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip. State institutions, with the partial exception of the judiciary, have mostly fallen in behind Mursi. The army, the muscle behind all previous Egyptian presidents in the republic's six-decade history, has gone back to barracks, having apparently lost its appetite to intervene in politics. The liberals, leftists, Christians, ex-Mubarak followers and others opposed to Mursi have yet to generate a mass movement or a grassroots political base to challenge the Brotherhood.
– Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi returned to the presidential palace today after fleeing yesterday when it was thronged by protesters, Reuters reports. Though 200 demonstrators camped out overnight, traffic was back to normal today and riot police had left the area. In yesterday's clashes, 35 protesters and 40 police officers were hurt. And things are looking to heat up again soon: The Muslim Brotherhood has called for a protest at the palace today against the "oppressive abuses" of the opposition, and the opposition in response called for leftist demonstrators to head back to the palace, leading to fears of violent clashes. Opposition protesters want Morsi to retract his expanded powers and stop a Dec. 15 vote on the new constitution hastily drafted by Islamists. Though they called yesterday's protest a "last warning" to the president, Reuters notes that they have little real chance of stopping the vote, which Morsi is confident will approve the constitution.