The International Monetary Fund stands ready to help riot-torn Egypt rebuild its economy, the IMF chief said Tuesday as he warned governments to tackle unemployment and income inequality or risk war.

As Egyptian protesters gathered in their thousands demanding the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said: "The IMF is ready to help in defining the kind of economic policy that could be put in place."

In a speech in Singapore, he said rampant unemployment and a growing income gap was a "strong undercurrent of the political turmoil in Tunisia and of rising social strains in other countries".