WarSclerotic

Report: Egypt PM to resign over protests – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Government-owned newspaper says Essam Sharaf expected to step down along with cabinet ministers following failed handling of Cairo riots, which left three people killed and some 1,000 injured

Roee Nahmias

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is expected to resign Saturday along with his cabinet ministers over the failed handling of Friday’s protests in Cairo, sources close to the cabinet told government-owned newspaper al-Ahram.

According to the report, Sharaf discussed the issue with his ministers in an urgent cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile Saturday, Israel received surprising support from Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Haled bin Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Halifa, who condemned the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.The minister wrote on his Twitter page that “the failure to defend the embassy building is a blatant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

Some 4,000 people demonstrated outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo on Friday evening, tore down the wall set up to defend the diplomats, removed the Israeli flag from the building and clashed with security forces. Three protestors were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.Dozens of protestors stormed the embassy building, where six security guards and workers were stranded. The rioters threw Israeli documents out of the windows and reportedly beat up one of the employees.

Protestors storm Israeli Embassy building (Photo: EPA)

The six Israelis were evacuated from the embassy by an Egyptian commando force early Saturday, and returned to Israel. Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, some 80 diplomats, their family members and other Israelis residing in Cairo were flown back to Israel earlier. The deputy ambassador remained in the Egyptian capital to maintain the embassy.Sharaf was appointed prime minister on March 3, after the revolution which led to President Hosni Mubarak’s downfall. Sharaf enjoyed the citizens’ support but his government began drawing criticism recently.According to recent reports, several years ago, when he served as minister, Sharaf gave his associates official roles.Friday’s protests were not just against Israel, but also against the Military Council controlling Egypt. Sharaf convened his cabinet for an urgent meeting Saturday morning. At the same time, the Interior Ministry said it put police on high alert and canceled all police holidays.

This entry was posted on September 10, 2011 at 1:30 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.