CAIRO - Egypt's Interior Ministry is mulling the restructure of its strongest political security offshoot, turning it into an information unit and cutting short its free-hand powers, a security official said, stressing that this could be as soon as the Emergency Law is dropped. "Expecting that the 30-year-old Emergency Law will be revoked soon, the ministry is studying proposals to turn the State Security Police into an information unit to confront terrorism," the official added on condition of anonymity. He added that the State Security Police, which had hundreds of offices in all governorates, would never be responsible for taking any extra judicial action against Egyptians. The remarks by the security official were made as Minister of the Interior Mahmoud Wagdi said around 239 political detainees had been released since February 7. "Until now, I have endorsed the release of 239 political detainees, mostly from the (Muslim) Brotherhood, Jihad and other Islamic groups," said Wagdi. Relatives of political detainees, who have been jailed for long years without trial, protested outside in Al Tahrir Square in central Cairo on Friday, spearheaded by the Brotherhood's deputy guide Mahmoud Ezzat. "We are examining files of political detainees. It is expected that the majority will be released very soon," said the security official. A group of political detainees belonging to Islamic groups were released during the security failures that occurred in the first week of the revolution during which thousands of inmates were intentionally allowed to walk free allegedly to cause chaos. Under the state of emergency, in place since 1981 following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat, thousands of political activists have been detained without being charged or receiving trial. Meanwhile, a judicial panel entrusted with proposing constitutional changes to allow free and fair elections in Egypt has nearly finished its work, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted its chairman former judge Tareq el-Bishry as saying. The panel was formed by Egypt's military rulers on Tuesday and given 10 days to draw up the proposals, which will be put to a referendum. El-Bishry, the head of the committee, expects the completion of the amendments within the coming few days. "It might be ready on Tuesday," he said, adding that he would give a public progress report today. With some opposition groups showing signs of division over the pace of change in Egypt following the resignation of Hosni Mubarak after 30 years as president, the military council set a twomonth deadline for a national referendum on proposed constitutional changes. The military council had previously announced the dissolution of parliament, the suspension of the constitution and promised fresh parliamentary and presidential elections within six months.
