Cairo, Oct 28 (AFP) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has named a new armed forces chief of staff, thepresidency said in a brief statement today.
He appointed former defence ministry secretary generalMohammed Farid Hegazy to the post, it said, without giving areason for the change.
His predecessor Mahmoud Hegazy, who had held the postsince March 2014, was named a presidential adviser.
Linked to Sisi through the marriage of their respectivechildren, Mahmoud Hegazy recently returned from Washingtonwhere military chiefs had gathered to discuss fighting"terrorism".
Mohammed Farid Hegazy's appointment is a major change inthe military establishment.
Sisi came to power after the 2013 ouster of Islamistpresident Mohamed Morsi, for whom he had served as defenceminister.
The country's armed forces have since faced an Islamistinsurgency including by the Islamic State group, with hundredsof policemen and soldiers killed.
The insurgency is concentrated on North Sinai province,although IS has also extended its presence to southern Egyptand the Nile Delta, north of the capital. (AFP)UZM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
