Iceland's business minister resigns

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Iceland's business minister has resigned and senior officials were discussing the fate of the financially strapped nation's government Sunday, observers said.

Icelandic Business Affairs Minister Bjorgvin Sigurdsson resigned Sunday, one day after 7,000 protesters angry at the government's handling of the collapse of the country's banking system thronged the Reykjavik streets in front of Parliament, CNN reported.

Senior ministers were meeting Sunday to discuss the future of the entire Icelandic government, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir told the U.S. broadcaster.

Sigurdsson said in a letter to Prime Minister Geir Haarde that he was partly to blame for the collapse of several of the country's leading banks and its stock market, and admitted efforts to restore confidence in the system had failed.

Haarde has proposed early elections be held May 9, two years ahead of schedule, CNN said.