Egypt?s State Of Emergency To Expire At Midnight After 31 Years

After 31 years in existence, the state of emergency in Egypt will expire at midnight on Thursday.

The emergency, which was imposed after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, gave state authorities and police extraordinary powers, including the right to hold people in detention indefinitely without charge and to ban public protests, among other strictures.

The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said in a statement that in the absence of the emergency measure it will still continue to carry its national responsibility in protecting the country until the transfer of power is over.

The country is in the midst of a presidential election that will witness the top two vote-getters from the first round engage in a run-off on June 16-17.