Egypt: No disagreement with military on defense minister

There is no disagreement between Egypt's president and its army on who is to be the next defense minister, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali told reporters on Thursday. ''Alleged news about a nomination being nixed by the military council are false,'' Ali said. President Mohamed Morsi's team of deputies and advisers has been assembled and its members will be announced shortly, Ali added. The military last month pushed through a constitutional amendment stipulating that the current defense minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who held the post for 20 years under toppled ruler Hosni Mubarak, will stay in office into the new administration, and until a new constitution is drafted. Egypt's outgoing government, led by Kamal el Ganzuri, met today for the last time, with acting Premier Hisham Kandil attending as water minister. The makeup of Egypt's new government is still unknown. The only certainty is that current International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul Naga, formerly of the Hosni Mubarak administration, has declined to be a part of it. He had made the decision some time ago, Abul Naga told the outgoing government.