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Beblawi meets with cabinet candidates | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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In this Saturday, March 2, 2013 file photo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr listens as US Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, speaks to the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt. Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin


In this Saturday, March 2, 2013 file photo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr listens as US Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, speaks to the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt. Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

In this Saturday, March 2, 2013 file photo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr listens as US Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, speaks to the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt. Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egypt’s interim prime minister, Dr Hazem El-Beblawi, began meeting ministerial candidates Sunday, with the final roster of cabinet ministers scheduled to be announced Tuesday or Wednesday.

Beblawi expects the government to include roughly 30 ministers, in addition to two deputy prime ministers. One will be responsible for economic affairs, while the other will be involved in security.

He will also retain ministers from the previous government.

Information leaked yesterday in Cairo stated that the prime minister was considering a new foreign minister. Mohamed Kamel Amr, who has taken up the position of foreign minister since the demission of the previous government, has excused himself from continuing in the Beblawi government, according to the leaks.

On the ground, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood vowed to continue its opposition to the toppling of the former president Mohamed Mursi.

The official spokesman for the group, Ahmed Arif, warned against “underestimating the capabilities [of the Brotherhood].” He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “we can take powerful institutional action in education and advocacy. Accordingly we are a sophisticated adversary, because we have a prevailing ideology.”

Meanwhile, the Egyptian army fought on several fronts to establish security and stability in the country. Military operations have been concentrated in the Sinai.

Unidentified assailants attacked the army in four ambushes in the towns of Rafah and El-Arish late Friday. The army is reported to have deployed Apache attack helicopters in the region at a low altitude for the first time.

The Egyptian army spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Muhammad Ali stated that “we have the capabilities and the information that allows us to bring the situation [in the Sinai] to a decisive end in a limited time.”