Saturday, February 5, 2011

Shake-up in Egyptian ruling party

The politburo of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has resigned en masse, in an apparent response to anti-government protests.

Two key allies of President Hosni Mubarak, including his son Gamal, were stripped of their posts.

Both positions were taken by Hossam Badrawi, a reformer and prominent physician.

Protesters still occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square, but their numbers have fallen from Friday's huge rally.

President Mubarak has also held talks with his ministers to try to revive the economy.

Banks will reopen on Sunday, but Finance Minister Samir Radwan said the economic situation was "very serious".

Analysts say the uprising is costing the country at least $310m a day.Earlier there were reports of an explosion at a pipeline that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan. The blast caused a fire near el-Arish, Egyptian state television reported.

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