CAIRO, Sept 5, 2012 (AFP) -
CAIRO, Sept 5, 2012 (AFP) –
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has appointed members of the Muslim Brotherhood as provincial governors in an attempt to rid state bodies of members of the former regime, state media reported on Wednesday.
In the first appointment of new governors since a popular uprising overthrew Hosni Mubarak, Morsi appointed 10 new governors, half of whom are Islamists.
The move could raise fears among some segments of society of an extension of the Islamists’ reach since the uprising that saw Islamist movements thrust to the forefront of politics after being banned for decades.
Morsi, who was himself a long-time senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood until his election in June, appointed five members of the group as governors of Cairo, the Nile Delta provinces of Kafr el-Sheikh and Menufiya and the central provinces of Minya and Assiut.
Osama Kamal, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood, former head of Banha University and deputy of the engineers’ syndicate, has become the new Cairo governor, a member of the Brotherhood said.
Morsi named Abdelfatah Harhur, a former military police general, to govern the lawless North Sinai region, where Islamist militants have flourished.
A military general was also appointed in the Red Sea governorate and a former police general to Suez province.
Under Mubarak, top security officials were generally appointed to head Egypt’s 27 governorates.
