Egypt's military 'committed' to handing over power to civilian president by June-end

Cairo, May 4 (ANI): Gen. Mohamed El Assar, a member of Egypt's ruling military council, said military council is committed to handing over power to a civilian president by July as it promised.

Egypt's military rulers reiterated their pledge to hand over power to a civilian president, a day after clashes in Cairo left at least 11 people dead and deepened concerns about the country's democratic transition.

El Assar, one of three members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said the violence would not affect the power transfer, reports The Christian Science Monitor.

"Since November 2011 we have repeated in every meeting and on every occasion that the armed forces and SCAF are committed to cede power by June 30, 2012," he said.

Egyptians are scheduled to vote for the first president after Hosni Mubarak on May 23 and 24. A second round of voting will be held in June if no candidate wins a majority.

Since massive demonstrations forced Mr. Mubarak from power in February 2011, the generals who took power delayed elections and appeared intent on protecting their own power and privilege after the handover.

Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo, said the generals would remain a player in politics after the power transfer.

"In fact SCAF does not lose much by handing over power to a civilian head of state, particularly as no candidate has the intention of starting his term by engaging in a clash with SCAF over matters of informal economic privileges of the military," he added.

The generals also denied responsibility for the violence Wednesday. It took place near the Ministry of Defense, where protesters had staged a sit-in against the military. Unidentified people in civilian clothes attacked the demonstrators early in the morning, while police and military made no attempt to intervene. (ANI)