Prominent judge to be Egypt's new justice minister

Cairo, 02 Aug – (ANA) - Egyptian former appeal court judge Ahmed Mekky said he has accepted the post of justice minister in the government of newly elected President Mohamed Mursi, and is to be sworn in with other cabinet officers today.

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, who had himself been a little known technocrat in the irrigation ministry until tapped by Mursi, formed the cabinet with career bureaucrats and at least three Islamist politicians, including the education minister.

The first permanent government since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year gives the once-banned Brotherhood, a powerful influence in Egypt, and Kandil's decisions have faced opposition from non-Islamists who wanted a more inclusive government. (ANA)

FA/ANA/02 August 2012---------