Egypt shortens curfew hours as violence fades

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Egypt's cabinet decided on Saturday evening to shorten a wide-scale curfew by two hours, official news agency MENA reported.

The curfew, imposed on 14 governorates, including the capital Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, will start at 09:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) instead of 07:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), and last until 06:00 a.m. (0400 GMT).

However, the curfew hours on Fridays will not be shortened, as Egyptians tend to hold protests on Fridays, the report said.

The latest decision is meant to alleviate burdens on citizens and respond to popular demands, the cabinet said in a statement.

The decision came after Egyptian Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi insisted on restoring security as the government's priority.

Mass protests called by ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood largely failed to materialize one day before the shortening of the curfew.

Mohamed Badie, the detained "General Guide" of Muslim Brotherhood, and his two deputies will go on trial in Cairo on Sunday, the same day the former President Hosni Mubarak is due in court for a hearing.

The cabinet imposed the curfew on Aug. 14, shortly after the presidency announced a nationwide one-month state of emergency due to the turmoil over dispersing pro-Morsi sit-ins.

Official reports said that nearly 1,000 people were killed, including 100 policemen, in the dispersing operation in Cairo and Giza, as well as in relevant clashes across the country.

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