The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has announced that the curfew will be lifted on 15 June. An official military source said on Monday that the decision has been taken to encourage the return of normal life and for the convenience of citizens. The decision may have been influenced by a memorandum sent by Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhri Abdel Nour to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf requesting the curfew be lifted to help attract more foreign tourists to Egypt. Arab tourists in particular prefer to stay up late in Cairo and other touristic governorates. The curfew currently in place runs from 2 am to 5 am daily, and the armed forces say it has been kept in place since the uprising in January in order to maintain security in light of the spread of violent crime. The curfew was imposed on 28 January during the uprising that led to the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February. The military imposed the curfew on the same day that they took to the streets to fill the security void left by the withdrawal of police from duty nationwide. During the uprising, which lasted for 18 days, the curfew was extended to up to 17 hours per day at some points, resulting in extensive damage to the Egyptian economy. Translated from the Arabic Edition
