Egypt’s state of emergency ends

A three-month state of emergency imposed in Egypt after a crackdown on Islamist protesters has expired, court rules.

CAIRO // A three-month state of emergency imposed in Egypt after a crackdown on Islamist protesters has expired, a court ruled today.

The interim president Adly Mansour declared a one-month state of emergency on August 14, as violence gripped Egypt after police dispersed two large protest camps in Cairo set up by supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

The government extended the state of emergency for two more months on September 12.

“The court argued that since the extension announcement was on September 12 then the expiry date should be Tuesday, not Thursday November 14,” a judiciary source said.

The cabinet said it would respect the ruling but would wait for official notification from the court before implementing it.

“The government is committed to implement judicial rulings ... the government is waiting for the text of the ruling,” the cabinet said.

The state of emergency granted broad powers of arrest and detention to security forces, and was accompanied by a curfew.

Many blamed the curfew, which initially started at 7pm but has been reduced over the weeks, on dampening trade in central Cairo at a time when the government is desperately trying to create jobs and boost an economy that has been badly hit by the turmoil.

The president is on the verge of decreeing an amended law regulating protests that has sparked a backlash, even from other members of government and its supporters.

* Agence France-presse and Reuters