Johannesburg – Two alleged terrorists have been killed during a shootout after Egyptian police raided the hideout of the fugitives on the outskirts of Cairo.
Egypt’s interior ministry released a statement on Sunday stating that one of the two fugitives was being pursued by security forces after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He had been convicted of planting an explosive device at a police station in Assuit in Upper Egypt.
The suspect was also an accused in two ongoing cases involving planting an explosive device and being a member of a terrorist group, Egypt’s Al Ahram daily reported.
"The fugitive suspect was planning an attack against vital and important targets," the statement added.
Meanwhile, a planned cabinet reshuffle was postponed until Tuesday after Lebanese President Michel Aoun landed in Cairo to hold talks with the Egyptian government.
Sources affiliated with the pro-government parliamentary majority bloc "Support Egypt" told reporters that Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail had informed parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal that the final list of the new cabinet ministers would be presented Monday so that parliament could vote on the new ministers on Tuesday.
Ismail told the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) last week that a number between eight and 11 new cabinet ministers would be part of the much-anticipated limited cabinet reshuffle.
“We hope that a final list of the new cabinet ministers will be presented to parliament, the House of Representatives, when it reconvenes," Ismail told MENA.
Ismail earlier indicated that some ministries could be eliminated or merged, but no new ones would be created.