Egypt has appointed a new foreign minister and interior minister following demands by reformers for a purge of Cabinet officials named by ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt’s state news agency says Nabil Elaraby, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, has accepted the job of foreign minister. He will replace Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who has been foreign minister since 2004 and stayed in the job after the ouster last month of the longtime president.
The new interior minister is Mansour el-Issawi. He takes over the ministry responsible for the state security police, reviled by many Egyptians for its reputation for brutality. In his acceptance statement, the new minister said he would take all necessary measures to restore confidence between citizens and the police.
The reshuffle is another step by Egypt’s ruling military council to respond to popular demands as it charts a course to parliamentary and presidential elections later this year. Last Thursday, the council appointed a former transportation minister, Essam Sharaf, as prime minister to replace Ahmed Shafiq, who was appointed by Mr. Mubarak during his last weeks in power. Sharaf, a civil engineer, has the backing of pro-democracy youth protest groups.
