Egypt's El-Sissi Replaces Interior Minister in Reshuffle

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday replaced the country's powerful interior minister as part of a Cabinet reshuffle, in what was taken as a sign of growing frustration at the security forces' inability to staunch an increasingly virulent insurgency.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim played a key role in el-Sissi's 2013 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi and the subsequent bloody crackdown on his Islamist supporters that left hundreds dead and thousands in detention.

But despite his bloody track record, Ibrahim's forces had struggled to combat a burgeoning insurgency in the strategic Sinai peninsula and failed to halt a series of low-grade bomb attacks in Cairo and other cities.

Ibrahim was replaced by another police general, Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar, a career officer in the feared State Security Agency who briefly led the agency in 2011 and 2012. The choice of a veteran officer indicated no letup in the government's heavy-handed treatment of its opponents.

El-Sissi later named Ibrahim an adviser to the prime minister, a largely ceremonial position, in what appeared to be a symbolic show of gratitude for his support of the 2013 military takeover. The move resembled one taken in December, when el-Sissi pensioned off intelligence chief Mohammed Farid el-Tohamy while awarding him one of the state's highest awards. El-Tohamy, a longtime patron of el-Sissi, was also instrumental in the crackdown on the Brotherhood.

Ibrahim's removal followed an uptick in bomb attacks blamed on Islamic militants targeting the heart of the heavily protected capital. The latest such attack was on Monday, when a bomb at a police checkpoint killed two people outside the nation's highest appeals court in downtown Cairo. Another bomb killed two people in the southern city of Aswan on Sunday, and a similar wave of explosions rocked the Cairo district of Giza last week, killing one and injuring about 10.

On Wednesday, a massive fire destroyed most of the city's showcase convention center in an eastern suburb. No foul play was suspected, but the fire was widely seen as the latest example of government negligence.

The Cabinet reshuffle also saw the replacement of the ministers of culture, tourism, education, telecommunications and agriculture. El-Sissi introduced two new portfolios, for vocational training and population.

It was the first Cabinet reshuffle since el-Sissi took office in June, nearly a year after he ousted Morsi amid widespread protests against Egypt's first freely elected leader.

Morsi had named Ibrahim interior minister in January 2013, but six months later Ibrahim and his largely militarized police force sided with the millions of protesters who took to the streets demanding Morsi step down.

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Egypt's El-Sissi Replaces Interior Minister in Reshuffle