Mubarak announces composition of new government
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Cairo, Jan 31, IRNA -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced composition of new cabinet on Monday after he named his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president and former Air Force general Ahmed Shafiq as prime minister.
The interior minister — who heads internal security forces — was replaced. A retired police general, Mahmoud Wagdi, was named to replace Habib el-Adly.
The new line-up of Cabinet ministers included figures who hold widespread respect in their fields. For example, Gaber Asfour, a prominent literary figure, was named culture minister. He replaced the longest-serving Cabinet member, Farouq Hosni, who had held the post for more than 25 years. Also, Egypt's most famous archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, was named state minister for antiquities, a new post.
In the new Cabinet, Mubarak retained his long-serving defense minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi — and gave him an additional title of deputy prime minister — and also kept Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Newspapers on Monday published a sternly worded letter from Mubarak to his new prime minister, Shafiq, ordering him to move swiftly to introduce political, legislative and constitutional reforms.
He also appeared to distance himself from the economic policies directed by his son Gamal, widely blamed for causing a wide gap between the rich and poor, for whom economic hardships have deepened.
In the letter, Mubarak urged 'new economic policies that give maximum care to an economic performance which pays heed to the suffering of the citizens, and lightening their burden.'
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