Ultraconservative Islamists make gains in Egypt

Egypt’s new parliament, in theory, is tasked with selecting a 100-member panel to draft Egypt’s new constitution. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country after Mubarak’s fall in February, has suggested that it will choose 80 of those members.

Meanwhile, new interim Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, who was recently appointed by the military, formed a temporary Cabinet of 32 ministers, including 10 from the previous government. El-Ganzouri also served as a prime minister under Mubarak in the mid-1990s.

Protesters had demanded a new premier in response to a security crackdown on demonstrations before the elections that killed more than 40 people.

Also Friday, more than 5,000 protesters demonstrated in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to call for a speedier transition to civilian rule and trials for security officers accused of killing protesters.

Large crowds marched into the square carrying dozens of coffins wrapped in Egyptian flags to represent those killed in clashes with the police near the square in the week before the elections.

“People haven’t given up on the square just because there were elections,” said Ibrahim Hussein, who voted this week for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. “They all have the same demands and they haven’t been met yet.”

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Associated Press writer Ben Hubbard contributed to this report.

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