/ 5 July 2013

Egypt’s interim president dissolves parliament

Egypt's Interim President Dissolves Parliament

The interim head of state dissolved parliament on Friday, state television said.

Only the upper house, the Shura Council, had remained active after the lower house was dissolved by military-led authorities shortly before Morsi was elected a year ago.

State television also said that Adli Mansour, the Constitutional Court chief justice sworn in as head of state on Thursday, had appointed Mohamed Ahmed Farid as head of intelligence.

He replaces Mohamed Raafat Shehata, a Morsi appointee, who is set to become national security adviser to Mansour. 

Meanwhile, a senior African Union official has said that the union suspended Egypt from all its activities after the Egyptian military overthrew Morsi.

Suspension is the AU's usual response to any interruption of constitutional rule by a member state.

State of emergency
"As mandated by the relevant AU instruments, the African Union Peace and Security Council decides to suspend the participation of Egypt in AU activities until the restoration of constitutional order," Admore Kambudzi, secretary of the Peace and Security Council, said after a meeting on Friday.

Meanwhile, Egypt's army announced a state of emergency in the provinces of South Sinai and Suez on Friday after Islamist gunmen attacked an airport in the Sinai town of El Arish, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

The report quoted the commander of the Third Field Army Osama Asakar as saying that the "state of readiness" had been raised to its highest level in the two provinces due to the attack.

The attack, the latest of a string of security incidents in the lawless region, came two days after the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi. It was not clear if the attacks were coordinated and in reaction to his removal. – Reuters