Egypt government announces end of state of emergency

PanARMENIAN.Net - Egypt's government announced the end of a 3-month-old state of emergency Tuesday, Nov 12, two days earlier than planned, after a court ruled that the measure has expired, according to the Associated Press.

Ending the state of emergency would mean the end of a nighttime curfew also in place since mid-August, measures aimed at helping authorities impose control amid protests by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Security officials have shown concern that its end could add fuel to the protests, the AP says.

Morsi, who has been in detention since his July 3 ouster by the military, had his first extensive meeting with lawyers on Tuesday, consulting in prison with a team from his Muslim Brotherhood and allies on his ongoing trial on charges of inciting murder, which began last week. Morsi is so far refusing to allow the team to represent him, saying he remains the elected president and refuses to recognize the tribunal against him following what he and his supporters call an illegal coup.

During the meeting, Morsi gave the lawyers a "statement to the nation and the Egyptian people," said Morsi's son, Osama, a lawyer who was among those who met him, according to the Muslim Brotherhood's website. He said the statement was addressed to "the various movements, factions and sects" of the Egyptian people.

The state of emergency gave security forces wide powers of arrest. It was imposed after police broke up two pro-Morsi protest camps in heavy crackdown that left hundreds of protesters dead. The country has seen persistent violence since, including further bloody crackdowns on protests, retaliatory violence blamed on Islamists, and a wave of attacks on security forces and the military by Islamic militants, mainly in the Sinai Peninsula.

Under the crackdown, protests have mostly waned and have been reduced to small gatherings concentrated inside universities. On Tuesdsay, police forces entered Mansoura University, in the Nile Delta, after clashes erupted on the campus between Morsi supporters and other students.

Morsi was held in a secret location by the military after his ouster and had no access to lawyers. It was only after the Nov. 4 opening of his trial — his first public appearance since the coup — that he was transferred to a regular prison, near the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.