Egypt yesterday named General Mansour el-Essawy as its new interior minister in a further sign that former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s old guard were being removed from the Cabinet.
Pro-democracy activists have demanded a purge of a Cabinet where the key portfolios of defense, justice, interior and foreign affairs have been run by appointees of Mubarak, who was swept from power by mass protests on Feb. 11.
The state news agency MENA quoted Essawy as saying his priorities included reinforcing security across Egypt. Security in the Arab world’s most populous nation has been lax since the country’s police forces melted away from the streets on Jan. 28.
Photo: AFP
Many Egyptian policemen remain reluctant to return to duty, fearing attacks by citizens still angry over clashes between demonstrators and security forces during the uprising that led to the deaths of over 300 people.
The ministry is now studying a plan to restructure the security apparatus to shore up its credibility.
Essawy’s predecessor, Mahmoud Wagdy, was appointed by Mubarak after the revolt began in late January, replacing longtime Mubarak ally Habib al-Adly, but protesters demanded Wagdy’s sacking too, saying he belonged to the old ruling elite.
Egyptian media reports said Essawy was previously the first deputy minister of security of Cairo and Giza governorates and a former governor of al-Minya. He was reported to be popular for his efforts to curb corruption.
In related news, once feared former interior minister Adly pleaded not guilty to corruption charges on Saturday in the first trial of a member of Mubarak’s regime.
Standing in the dock and dressed in white prison clothes, Adly denied accusations of money laundering and unlawful acquisition of public money.
“It didn’t happen,” he said twice, in a calm tone.
Throughout the trial, dozens stood outside the Cairo criminal court to demand the death penalty for Adly, whose forces have long been accused by rights groups of torture.
Riot police surrounded the courthouse in the Tagammu Khames suburb and three army tanks were positioned at the entrance ahead of the high-profile trial.
“The people want the execution of the murderer,” the protesters chanted, as others held banners depicting Adly with a noose around his neck.
The corruption case against Adly has fallen short of demands of some pro-democracy activists who want to see him tried for human rights abuses.
The former minister is currently being investigated for ordering the shooting of protesters with live bullets during 18 days of riots that brought down Mubarak.
Shortly after the start of the hearing, Judge Al-Mohammadi Qunsua adjourned the session to April 2, after a heated exchange between the defense team and civil society lawyers attending the trial.
Defense lawyer Mohammed Yussef Manaa had asked for more time to study the documents of the case and refused to comment after the trial.
Qunsua said Adly had used his position as a public servant to sell land to a contractor doing work for the ministry, in a deal worth 4.8 million Egyptian pounds (US$813,000). He also accused Adly of implication in money laundering to the tune of 4.5 million Egyptian pounds.
Ibrahim Bassiuni, a civil society lawyer volunteering for the prosecution, called on Qunsua to allow television cameras into the courtroom.
“It is the public’s right to see this murderer standing in the dock,” he said.
Bassiuni also said money recovered from Adly’s alleged illegal deals “should be handed to the martyrs of the revolution.”
Adly was arrested last month as part of a sweeping corruption investigation by the new authorities, along with several former ministers and senior members of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including