Lynch mob condemned

Egypt’s justice minister has warned the lynching of criminals in the streets by angry citizens signals “the death of the state”.

Ahmed Mekki’s comments came after residents in a northern Nile Delta province killed two men in public after they allegedly stole a rickshaw with a girl inside. Photographs showed the dead men hanging by their feet as thousands looked on.

“The application of Islamic justice on outlaws by citizens and the cutting off of roads is one of the signs of the death of the state,” Mr Mekki said.

In another sign of deteriorating security, a sword from a statue of Latin American hero Simon Bolivar was stolen near the heavily guarded US embassy in Cairo.