Cairo: Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammad Ebrahim, criticized by the opposition for alleged police abuses, was sacked on Thursday.
He is replaced by Majdi Abdul Ghafar, the chief of the National Security Agency.
Ebrahim’s removal followed an uptick in bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants targeting the heart of the heavily protected Egyptian capital, Cairo.
On Wednesday, a massive fire destroyed most of the city’s showcase convention center in an eastern suburb. No foul play was suspected, but the fire was interpreted by the president as Ebrahim’s latest failure, according to Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
It’s the first Cabinet reshuffle since Al Sissi, a solider-turned-politician, took office in June. He led the military ouster of the Islamist Mohammad Mursi, the nation’s first freely elected leader, about a year before taking office.
Ministers of tourism, culture, telecommunications, housing , agriculture and education are replaced too. A new ministry for technical education has been created.
Al Sissi swore in the new ministers on Thursday.
Ebrahim was appointed in the post in early 2013 by the then Islamist president Mohammad Mursi whom the army deposed months later.
Opposition and human rights groups repeatedly demanded Ebrahim’s removal due to purported violations by security forces for whom the interior minister is responsible for in Egypt.
Calls for Ebrahim’s sacking mounted earlier this year following the shooting to death allegedly by police of an anti-government protester in Cairo.
In late 2013, Ebrahim survived an assassination bid claimed by the militant group, Ansar Bait Al Maqdis, who recently swore allegiance to Daesh.
- with inputs from AP
