CAIRO: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) denied reports that there was a political deal with any Islamic or Islamist movement in the country. Sami Anan, the SCAF's chief of staff, added that the trials of former Egyptian government officials would be “carried out in accordance with the law and without intervention from the SCAF or any other government body.” He said that “no one is above the law.” The trials of former President Hosni Mubarak, his two sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and others on charges of killing protesters during Egypt's January uprising, is to begin on Wednesday. Anan denied any members of SCAF have tortured detainees and denied the existence of detainees, stressing the military trials are “held only for thugs.” He said that there are many challenges the SCAF is facing at the moment, including security and “filling the vacuum of lack of police.” In a six hour meeting with 10 Egyptian scholars, Anan said the Minister of Interior, Mansour el-Issawi, is currently striving to “boost the morale of the security forces to maintain security in Egypt.” He added that another main challenge for Egypt is overcoming the economic crisis and rising prices. He argued that the SCAF and the government are “working to ease the burden of the crisis on citizens.” He also called for the continued sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square to end. BM
