Egypt moves to lift state of emergency

Egypt’s three-month state of emergency and nightly curfews will be lifted on Thursday, the Minister of Administrative Development said.

No further details were given in Wednesday’s announcement made at a news conference.

The army imposed the state of emergency in mid-August amid the political turmoil that gripped the country after the military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi on July 3 in reaction to mass protests against his rule.

“The emergency law will end tomorrow and the curfew will end tomorrow,” Minister Hany Mahmoud said at a press conference following a cabinet meeting.

Mahmoud’s comments came a day after a court ordered the end to the state of emergency.

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