Egypt renews emergency law powers

Egyptian MPs have approved a government request to extend emergency law, although President Hosni Mubarak had promised it would be lifted this year.

Officials say anti-terror legislation which had been due to replace the controversial emergency powers - in force since 1981 - is not ready.

The emergency law allows detention without charge for long periods and searches without warrants.

The last two-year extension of the state of emergency would have expired on 1 June.

Parliament is dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party and approval of the NDP government's request for an extension was not in doubt. President Mubarak promised to replace emergency rule during his re-election campaign in 2005.

Emergency legislation has been used to convict members of Egypt's strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, in military courts on unpublished charges.

"The state of emergency has for decades been one of the main causes of human rights violations in Egypt," said Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights head Hafez Abu Saada in comments quoted by AFP news agency.

BBC