Egypt Names New Interior, Foreign Affairs, Justice Ministers

A man reads a local newspaper on Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Egypt has named new ministers of the interior, foreign affairs, and justice in an effort to purge the cabinet of members of toppled President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Nabil al-Arabi, a former ambassador to the United Nations and an ex-judge in the International Court of Justice, replaces Ahmed Abul Gheit, who had been in the job since 2004.

Egypt's ruling military council appointed Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on March 3 after demonstrations against the presence of Mubarak's associates in the caretaker government running affairs since the former president's departure on February 11.

Meanwhile, army soldiers fired in the air and used stun guns to disperse a crowd that wanted to storm the state security offices inside the Interior Ministry in Cairo.

Reports said thugs armed with rocks, firebombs, and machetes also charged at the protesters.

compiled from agency reports