The cabinet announced in a statement Thursday that Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi accepted the resignation of Ziad Bahaa El-Din, who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Cooperation since the 3 July military-backed ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. El-Beblawi temporarily assigned Dr Ashraf Al-Sayed Al-Araby the posts of Minister of Foreign Cooperation and Minister of Planning. Al-Araby, who received his PHD from the State University of Kansas, had served as Minister of Foreign Cooperation under the deposed government of Hisham Qandil as well as technical advisor to Minister of Planning and Foreign Cooperation Dr Fayza Abu Al-Nagga under Ahmed Nazif, Essam Sharaf and Kamal Al-Ganzoury. The Deputy Prime Minister officially announced his resignation in a statement on 23 January. According to the statement, Bahaa El-Din said: "I see my role during the next stage being more consistent and effective in the political, partisan and legal ranks." The former deputy Prime Minister was the only minister to publicly voice opposition against the Protest Law which was issued by interim Prime Minister Adly Mansour in November 2013. The law limits the locations of protests and public meetings and requires the authorisation of the Ministry of Interior. A number of activists are being tried for violating the Protest Law, including renowned blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, 6 April Youth Movement founder Ahmed Maher and activists Ahmed Douma and Ahmed Adel.
