Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt’s military ruler has been retained as the senior
minister in the new Islamist government.

Officials said President-elect Mohammed Morsi has decided to appoint
Mohammed Tantawi as defense minister. They said Tantawi, chairman of the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, would continue to oversee Egypt’s
military and defense industry.

“The government will have a defense minister who is head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,” military regime spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed Assar said.

Morsi has not announced his Cabinet. But officials said the
president-elect, a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, has been consulting with Tantawi to ensure a transition of power on July 1, the deadline set by the military regime. But the military is said to have delayed the handover ceremony.

“The discussions [between the military and Brotherhood] aim to find a
way out of the current political crisis,” Medhat Haddad, a member of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, said.

Haddad said Egypt’s military should appoint the defense minister in
Morsi’s government. He also said the military should also be allowed to
determine its annual budget.

The political situation warrants this at the moment,” Haddad said.

The 76-year-old Tantawi has served for 20 years as Egypt’s defense
minister, where he developed close ties with the United States. He was said
to have played a major role in the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in
February 2011.

The United States, particularly the administration of President Barack
Obama, has expressed satisfaction with Morsi’s election. In Congress,
however, members said they would closely monitor Egypt to determine whether
it would receive U.S. military aid of $1.3 billion for 2013.

“There was a whole host of Al Qaida leadership that had been Muslim
Brotherhood that graduated to Al Qaida,” House Intelligence Committee
chairman Rep. Mike Rogers said. “Do I think there are moderate Muslim
Brotherhood individuals we are going to have to reach out to and talk to?
Yes. But we are going to have to watch it carefully.”

  Hosni Mubarak, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Assar, Mohammed Morsi, Mohammed Tantawi, Muslim Brotherhood, Rep. Mike Rogers, Shura Council, Tantawi to remain as Egypt’s defense minister