CAIRO — Egypt's interim president on Tuesday swore in the first Cabinet since the military ousted the Islamist president, giving members of the country's liberal movements key positions. The Cabinet includes three women. The new government is led by Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, an economist. Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, who ousted Mohamed Morsi on July 3, retains his post as defense minister and also took the position of first deputy prime minister, an additional title given to defense ministers in the past. The Morsi-appointed interior minister, Mohammed Ibrahim, remains in his post, in charge of the police. Nabil Fahmy, who was Egypt's ambassador to the US from 1999-2008, becomes foreign minister. Underlining the relatively liberal outlook of the new government, President Adly Mansour named three women in his Cabinet, taking the powerful ministries of information and health as well as the environment ministry. The Cabinet has 33 members, not including El-Beblawi. Most past governments for decades have had at most two women in them. The Cabinet does not include any figures from Islamist parties. The interim president's spokesman had said posts would be offered to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. The group refused, saying it would not participate in the military-backed political process and vowing to continue its protests demanding Morsi's reinstatement. In a first, Mansour also swore in an icon of Egyptian soccer as youth minister. Midfielder Taher Abu Zeid starred in Cairo's Al-Ahly club and the national side in the 1980s. The swearing-in of the new government came only hours after clashes between police and supporters of Morsi left seven protesters dead in the worst outbreak of violence in a week. The overnight riots broke also soon after the most senior US official to visit Egypt since Morsi was toppled concluded a round of talks with the country's interim leaders in which he called for the Brotherhood to be included in the political process. Egyptian authorities have arrested 401 people over clashes, the state news agency MENA said on Tuesday. “A security source confirmed that security forces have succeeded in arresting 401 people provoking unrest during the clashes,” MENA said. Thousands of Islamists had poured onto the streets after the iftar meal to demand the reinstatement of Morsi. Some of them blocked the October 6 bridge over the Nile in central Cairo, where security forces fired tear gas to drive them back. – Agencies
