November 24, 2011 - 10:16 AMT
Egyptian interior minister offers to postpone elections

Egyptian interior minister said that the November 28 parliamentary elections should be postponed, contrary to a previous statement by the ruling military council's chairman, Al Jazeera TV said.

Field Marshal Muhammed Hussein Tantawi, the chairman of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which took power in February after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, earlier announced that the military had no interest in staying in power and that parliamentary elections scheduled to begin on November 28 would go ahead.

Mansour al-Essawy said he had sent letters to the government and SCAF members in which he doubts the advisability of elections amid the ongoing violent protests.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC) invited all political forces to join its activists in another Tahrir Square protest on Friday, the Al Ahram portal said on Thursday.

The portal said protestors would demand prosecution of security officers responsible for the death of protesters, regardless of their rank and position; creation of the "national salvation" government to run the country until presidential elections; and an Interior Ministry reform, RIA Novosti reported.