Cairo - Egypt's new prime minister has urged a halt to all protests
and strikes to give the nation a breather to rebuild after more than
three years of deadly turmoil.
Ibrahim Mehlib made his appeal in
an address televised live on Sunday, his first full day on the job after
he and members of his cabinet were sworn in on the previous day.
Mehlib
was named prime minister last week following the surprise resignation
of his predecessor, Hazem el-Beblawi, after seven months in office.
The former government faced a wave of strikes and protests that officials said undercut the economy.
"The
time for work and productivity has come and no voice must be louder
than the voice of construction and development," said Mehlib, a former
housing minister and a construction executive.
