CAIRO - The head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi late on Tuesday persuaded Egypt's Hazem el-Beblawi, minister of finance, to withdraw his resignation from the government after a half-hour meeting, the local media reports. El-Beblawi had tendered early in the day his resignation to Prime Minsiter Essam Sharaf. The move came in protest at the government's response to Sunday night's bloody attack of Coptic demonstrators in Maspero, which left at least 25 dead. Tantawi told the minister that Egypt's current circumstances do not allow for his resignation to be accepted. Tantawi has said that "All of us were soldiers in one army at the service of Egypt and it was not acceptable for a soldier to desert his post and responsibilities to Egypt at this time."
