Egyptian finance minister resigns after clashes
October 11th, 2011 - 9:47 pm ICT by IANSCairo, Oct 11 (IANS) Egyptian Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi submitted his resignation Tuesday to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.
Beblawi said he resigned against the backdrop of the Maspero incident, in which a peaceful demonstration by Coptic Christians turned into deadly clashes, reported Xinhua, citing official news agency MENA.
The government should shoulder part of the responsibility for the incident, even if it was not directly blamed for the clashes, Beblawi said.
“The Maspero incident shook in a great way the security and safety,” he said.
Thousands of Coptic Christians held a demonstration Sunday night in front of the state TV building Maspero in downtown Cairo. The demonstration later turned into bloody clashes between the protestors and security forces, leaving 25 dead and about 329 injured.
Beblawi was appointed the finance minister and deputy prime minister on July 16, in the latest cabinet reshuffle in response to demonstrations urging for reforms.
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Tags: backdrop, bloody clashes, cabinet reshuffle, cairo, coptic christians, deadly clashes, deputy prime minister, essam, finance minister, hazem, news agency, oct 11, official news, peaceful demonstration, protestors, security and safety, security forces, sharaf, state tv, xinhua