Hazem el-Beblawi, Egypt’s Finance Minister, resigns after weekend’s clashes
An Egyptian woman mourns over the body of a killed relative as corpses lie at the mortuary of a hospital following clashes between Coptic Christian demonstrators and security forces in Cairo on October 9, 2011.
Egypt's Finance Minister Hazem El-Beblawi, who was appointed by the military council in July, has quit his job. According to El-Beblawi's aide, his resignation was due to the government's handling of the protest by Coptic Christians on Sunday night, which ended with clashes between the army and demonstrators, reports the Associated Press.
26 people, many of whom were Coptic Christians, were left dead in the protest, which was one of the bloodiest street battles since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.
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El-Belblawi's resignation was announced on State Television, although no reason was given by the media for his departure. El-Beblawi's aide, who requested anonymity, explained that El-Beblawi was frustrated with the government's inablity to deal with the protests. According to the Associated Press, El Beblawi told the prime minister in his resignation letter that he can't "work like this."
El Beblawi was an economist and a former banker who was appointed as Finance Minister during a cabinet reshuffling by Egypt's military council in July, reports the Financial Times. El Beblawi was a member of the Egyptian Social Democratic party, which called on the government to resign after the killing of the demonstartors, most of whom were Christians protesting against a church in southern Egypt.
Thousands of mourners, chanting agains the ruling military council attended the funeral on Tuesday for the 17 Coptic Christians killed in the protests.
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