LATEST: Egypt — Authorities Jam Al Jazeera
Egypt’s interim President, Adli Mansour (pictured), said on Tuesday night that a plan for return to civilian government after the July 3 coup is on track despite “challenges” and that emergency law should be lifted soon.
Mansour was interviewed on State TV after thousands of protesters rallies across Egypt to denounce the interim Government and demand the return of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.
The interim President said of the “road map” of an amended Constitution, followed by Parliamentary and Presidential elections early next year: “God willing, we will commit ourselves to the timeframe in the coming stages. There are no alterations on the priorities of the plan, even though there are some challenges facing us.”
Mansour said that his decision to announce emergency law that day had not been easy, but “terrorism and the vicious war that was being waged by some of the extremists made it crucial”.
If a “gradual improvement in security” continued, the state of emergency should end as planned in mid-September, he added.
Meanwhile, a military court sentenced 11 Muslim Brotherhood members to life in prison, convicting them of “shooting and adopting violent means” against the army in Suez on August 14.
Forty-five Brotherhood members were handed five-year jail terms on Tuesday, and eight defendants were acquitted.
