Finally state of emergency lifted in Egypt

Egypt’s ruling military council declared on Thursday the end of the state of emergency after its last renewal expired, pledging to continue securing the state until the end of the transitional period.

“Out of patriotism and historical responsibility held by the military forces, we are still responsible for securing the state and the citizens, despite the lift of the emergency state,” the council said in a statement.

The announcement triggered anxiety among political forces as the toppled leader Hosni Mubarak’s trial will be held on Saturday in which a final verdict will be delivered and the run-off of presidential elections is set to kick off on June 16-17.

“In such prospective events of Mubarak’s trial and the run-off elections, military forces’ deployment in the streets to help the police is very necessary,” state-owned newspaper al-Akhbar quoted Saad al-Houssainy, head of the Plan and Budget Committee in the People’s Assembly (lower house of the parliament), as saying.

About 1,500 detainees are to be released after lifting the emergency state, an official source told al-Akhbar.

“The military council and the cabinet should take serious security measures to ensure the country’s stability after lifting the emergency state, so I demanded the head of the People’s Assembly Saad al-Katatni to hold an emergency session to discuss the situation after ending the emergency state,” al-Akhbar quoted MP Mostafa Bakry as saying.

The emergency state has been imposed since 1981 in Egypt under the rule of former President Anwar el-Sadat and was being renewed every three years.

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