Recently appointed Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is reportedly continuing consultations aimed at forming Egypt's new cabinet for the recently-installed caretaker government. Sources say the selections are nearly finalized. In recent days, Sharaf has convened with a number of veteran politicians and emergent figures to determine the cabinet's composition. Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal was in attendance for the consultations. Sharaf met with Ahmed Hassan Borei for the Minister of Manpower position, Emad Abu Ghazi for the Ministry of Culture and Antiquities, Nabil al-Arabi for the Foreign Ministry, Mohamed Abdel Aziz al-Guindi for the Minister of Justice, and Mansour al-Essawy for the Interior Ministry. Hani Dahi reportedly declined the Minister of Petroleum position, while Mohamed Farid Abu Hadid declined to remain Agriculture Minister. Members of the former cabinet expected to retain their positions with Sharaf now at the helm include Minister for International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga, Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younis, Minister of Social Solidarity Gouda Abdel Khaleq, Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, Housing Minister Mohamed Fathi al-Baradei, Military Production Minister Sayed Meshal, Endowments Minister Abdallah al-Husseini, Local Development Minister Mohsen al-Nomani, Trade and Industry Minister Samir al-Sayyad, Transport Minister Atef Abdel Hamid, Environment Minister Maged George, Telecommunications Minister Maged Othman, Education Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin, Scientific Research Minister Omar Ezzat Salama, Finance Minister Samir Radwan, Health Minister Ashraf Hatem and Water Resources, and Irrigation Minister Hussein al-Oteify. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
