48 hours before a massive anti-government rally set for Tahrir, controversial 'El-Salmy document' articles related to status of military in a new Egypt will likely be cancelled, sources say following meeting Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Ali El-Salmi held a fresh round of talks with post-revolution political forces on Tuesday about the government-proposed document on “supra-constitutional principles,” which was largely rejected by most political parties and movements two weeks ago. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood-led Democratic Alliance and the Adl Party, among others. Along with El-Salmi, Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Culture Minister Emad Ghazi both also attended the meeting. Ahram Online has learned from sources that attended the gathering that all the document's articles related to the armed forces were expected to be cancelled. The same sources predicted additional “modifications and amendments” to the document, as well as changes to the criteria used to select any future constitutional assembly. After Tuesday's meeting, political representatives were expected to hold a series of meetings aimed at forging a common stance on the latest amendments. They are expected to announce a unified position on the issue on Wednesday. On Sunday, the Muslim Brotherhood and other political movements and parties gave the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the SCAF-appointed government until Wednesday to withdraw the document, popularly known as the “El-Salmi communiqué.” Tuesday's gathering followed another meeting one day earlier between Abdel Nourand several political groups – including the April 6 youth movement, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and the Popular Alliance Party – also convened to discuss the El-Salmi document. That meeting was attended by Abu Ghazi and Health Minister Amr Helmi. After the meeting, Abdel Nour said that the government had no intention of withdrawing the document, but did not exclude the possibility that several articles included therein would be subject to change. Most political parties and movements harbour particular objections to articles 9 and 10 of the document – which concern the status of Egypt's armed forces – with several issuing calls for a national referendum on the issue. Meanwhile, a rally called for by various Islamist, liberal and leftist forces to demand that the army hand over power to a civilian administration is set for Friday, 18 November in Cairo and multiple cities around the country. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/26606.aspx
