Egypt acts to end state of emergency

Court rules to lift three-month-old state of emergency but curfew to remain as military says it awaits executive order.

An Egyptian court has ordered an end to the state of emergency, two days ahead of schedule and three months after it was imposed during a crackdown on protesters supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

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

The state of emergency, accompanied by a night time curfew, had been scheduled to expire on Thursday.

It was imposed after a deadly crackdown by security forces on protest camps set up by supporters of Morsi, who was overthrown by the military on July 3 following mass rallies against his rule.

The state of the emergency allowed the authorities to make arrests without warrants and gave security officials the right to search people’s homes.

The end of the state of emergency would mean the end of the 01:00-05:00 curfew also in place.

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, in Cairo, said military officials there said they had not yet received an executive order to lift the curfew.

“They said they have to hear something from the prime minister before they lift it,” our correspondent said.

Ongoing protests

The court decision comes despite the continued protests in different parts of the country.

On Tuesday, student supporters of Morsi rallied at the university in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters, witnesses said.

Egypt has seen a wave of demonstrations and violence since the army-led overthrow of Morsi.

Hundreds have been killed, mostly Morsi supporters, as well as about 100 security officers.

Morsi has been held in a secret location since his removal, and was transferred to a high-security prison in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria after the opening session of his trial on November 4.

He has so far declined legal representation and wanted to defend himself.

Morsi’s son said his father was meeting on Tuesday with a team of lawyers who sought to defend him in his ongoing trial on charges of inciting murder.

The deposed leader, who has not yet agreed to let the team represent him, wanted to discuss with them taking legal action against others, his son said.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies