CAIRO, Jan. 30 — Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi assigned the governors of the turmoil-hit canal region early Wednesday to implement or cancel the curfew according to the security situation in each governorate, official news agency MENA reported.
On Sunday, Morsi imposed a curfew and a state of emergency in Port Said governorate, as well as Suez and Ismailia, for 30 days due to the ongoing bloody clashes there. But thousands of protesters took to the streets and stayed until late into the night in defiance of the curfew as well as the deployed armed forces.
Presidential advisor Essam el-Haddad said imposing the curfew and the emergency status was an exceptional decision to uphold safety of citizens and security of public and private institutions, the report added.
The ongoing violence in the three governorates in the past five days has left more than 50 people dead and 1,000 others injured.
