An opposition spokesman says pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been named interim Prime Minister.
Khaled Dawoud of the National Salvation Front, the main Opposition grouping, told The Associated Press that interim President Adly Mansour will swear in ElBaradei on Saturday evening. ElBaradei has led the Opposition to autocrat Hosni Mubarak, toppled by a popular uprising in 2011, and later to the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, forced out by the military earlier this week in a move that has led to a new round of chaos in Egypt. ElBaradei is a Nobel peace laureate and a former director of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour on Saturday held talks with the Army Chief and Interior Minister to discuss ways to ensure security amid violent clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed President Mohammed Morsi that claimed at least 36 lives. Mansour, who was sworn into office on Thursday, met with army chief and Defence Minister General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as well as Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police, at the Ittihadiya presidential palace. He also met with his new aides — constitutional consultant Judge Aly Awad Saleh, political consultant Mustafa Hegazy, and security consultant General Rafaat Shehata. According to a presidential source, the meetings focused on ways to secure protests and ensure National security.
The source said that Adly focused his discussion with constitutional and political aides on a new constitutional declaration that will be announced soon. The declaration will provide details on how the upcoming transitional period will be managed.
Adly will also meet representatives of different political forces and members of the Rebel movement. Meanwhile, a tense calm has descended on Egypt following a night of fierce clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi. Tens of thousands of angry supporters of 61-year-old ousted President, chanting slogans like “down with military rule”, took to the streets after Friday prayers demanding his reinstatement. At least 36 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the violence. In the Capital, the protesters holding images of Morsi marched towards the Republican Guards Club, where Morsi is believed to have been put “under guard” since Wednesday night.
Despite warning from soldiers, the crowd tried to storm the Guards headquarters, prompting the soldiers to open fire — first into the air, then at the demonstrators, killing four demonstrators and wounding dozens, local media reported. In running street battles in Cairo, more people were dead, including two at iconic Tahrir Sqaure, and scores of others injured, reports said.
The worst hit was coastal city of Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, where street fighting and clashes left 12 people dead, mostly from gunshot wounds. Brotherhood-led National Alliance in Support of Electoral legitimacy on Saturday vowed more protests in support of the deposed President.“The masses will continue their civilised protests andpeaceful sit ins in Cairo until the military coup is reversed and the legitimate president is restored,” it said.
The National Salvation Front (NSF), Egypt’s main opposition bloc, also called on people to take to the streets for what he described as the Muslim Brotherhood’s plot to “portray the situation as if there is a fight over legitimacy and pave the way for foreign intervention, like that which took place in libya and Syria”. In the North Sinai town of El Arish, five police officers were killed. It was, however, not clear whether the attacks were linked to pro-Morsi protests.
Meanwhile, a deputy leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, former presidential candidate Khairat El-Shater, has been arrested. Security sources said Shater, a businessman seen as the movement’s key strategist, was taken into custody on suspicion of incitement to violence.