Egypt's 27-year state of emergency is to be extended by another year because legislation aimed at replacing it with a new anti-terror law is not ready, a parliamentary official told AFP on Saturday. "On Monday the state of emergency will be extended by one year because the Egyptian government has not yet presented the anti-terror law" to parliament, said the official under cover of anonymity.
May 31 is the deadline for lifting or extending the controversial decades-old state of emergency imposed in 1981 after the assassination by Islamists of president Anwar Sadat.
Last year Judicial and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mufid Shehab said the state of emergency would end in 2008, even if the new anti-terror law meant to replace it was not ready.