Egypt deputy PM resigns after clashes

Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi resigned yesterday following deadly clashes in the capital that left 25 people dead, the official MENA news agency reported.
Beblawi -- one of two deputy prime ministers who also has the finance portfolio -- said he tendered his resignation after Sunday's deadly clashes "which shook the security of the society, which is the government's responsibility" to ensure.
"Although the government is not directly responsible, in the end, the responsibility falls on its shoulders," Beblawi was quoted by MENA as saying.
Meanwhile the UN human rights office yesterday urged Egyptian authorities to ensure that any probes into clashes which killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians, be conducted in an impartial and independent manner.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed regret over the deaths, and called on the authorities to "ensure the protection of all, including minority groups, in their rightful exercise" of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression."