Accessibility links

Breaking News

Media: Kamal Ganzouri Appointed Egypt's New PM


Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2011
Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 24, 2011

Egyptian media said Thursday the country's military rulers have appointed former Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri to form a new government after the previous civilian Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf resigned.

State newspaper Al Ahram said on its website that Ganzouri agreed in principle to lead a national salvation government after meeting with the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

The council also insisted that parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned Monday, despite escalating violence that has left at least 35 people dead. After days of excusing the violent crackdown on demonstrators, the council reversed course Thursday and apologized for the deaths.


View El-tahrir Square in a larger map

Meanwhile, thousands of Egyptian protesters and police observed a fragile truce Thursday, but the crowd remained in Cairo's Tahrir Square to press ahead with demands for the immediate resignation of the military leaders.

Watch a Related Report by Elizabeth Arrott

Major General Mukhtar el-Mallah, of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said the move would amount to a "betrayal" of trust. " We [Military Council] will not leave the power according to some demands and empty slogans. If l leave power now, I would be a traitor of the people and history and it would be written in the history that the Military Council abandoned and betrayed its people," he said.

Protest organizers said they would hold another mass demonstration on Friday.

Listen to analysis by Said Sadek from American University in Cairo



In another development, an Egyptian court has ordered the release of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo earlier this week.

Egyptian media said the Americans, who were students at the American University in Cairo, were detained along with other protesters while throwing petrol bombs at police.

Photo Gallery : Tahrir Square Protests, Cairo, Egypt

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Join the conversation on our social journalism site - Middle East Voices. Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.
XS
SM
MD
LG