DHAKA: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has accepted Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb’s resignation of the cabinet.

A statement from the presidency has said, reports Al Jazeera.

Sisi told the cabinet to remain in a caretaker role until a new cabinet was formed, according to Saturday’s statement.

The statement did not give an explanation for the move, but it came days after the agriculture minister was arrested over corruption.

A senior government official told the media the reshuffle was intended to ‘pump new blood’ into the government in light of the scandal.

Reports in local media outlets said the Egyptian president had asked the former petroleum minister Sherif Ismail to form a new government.

Ismail had been in his former role since July 2013, shortly after the removal for former-president Mohamed Mursi.

In Feb 2015, Ismail and four others, who had served under former president Hosni Mubarak, were acquitted in a retrial after a 2012 conviction for selling Israel natural gas at below-market price.

BDST: 1801 HRS, SEPT 12, 2015
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