An Egyptian court ruled a three-month state of emergency be lifted today, a step that may help the army-backed government restore a semblance of normality after the military ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
But as emergency rule was ordered to end, the government edged a step closer to passing a law on demonstrations that the opposition says could be a new way to curb protests.
The government imposed emergency and nightly curfews on August 14th, when security forces forcibly dispersed two Cairo sit-ins by Morsi supporters, kicking off the worst domestic bloodshed in Egypt’s modern history.
The court ruled the state of emergency had ended at 4pm local time today, two days earlier than expected. The government said in a statement it was committed to implementing the court ruling and was awaiting a copy of the decision to execute it.
It would mean an end to nightly curfews that have choked economic life, although security forces would not lift the curfew until formally told to do so by the government, a security official said. The curfew now stretches from 1am to 5 am, apart from Fridays, when it begins at 7pm
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood says the state of emergency has given extra legal cover to a crackdown on the movement: the security forces have killed hundreds of Morsi's supporters and arrested thousands more since his July 3rd downfall.
Some 250 members of the security forces have been killed since then, most of them in the lawless Sinai Peninsula where security sources said an officer died in an attack on a police station today.
Military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi enjoys the support of many Egyptians but his critics say the new government aims to revive the autocratic ways of the Mubarak era.
The state of emergency and curfew had been due to last a month from August 14th, but the government extended it for two more months on September 12th.
The draft legislation to regulate demonstrations has been condemned by critics as a danger to the right to protest, a right seen by activists as one of the main achievements of the 2011 uprising against Mubarak, who crushed all public dissent.
Agencies