Egypt plans to hold constitutional referendum within two months: Activist

Washington, Feb 15 (ANI): Members of the Egyptian ruling Higher Military Council have announced that Cairo will hold a constitutional referendum within two months, an anti-Mubarak-activist wrote on his Facebook account.

Sky News quoted the youth activist as saying that two members of the counsel had made the announcement to a group of eight protesters, including him.

"A constitutional committee known for integrity, honour and not belonging to any political trends has been formed to finish constitutional amendments in the space of 10 days and they will be put to a referendum within two months," Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who was detained for two weeks during the protests, wrote on his Facebook account.

"They affirmed that the army does not want to take power in Egypt and that the civilian state is the only path for Egypt's progress. The army defended the continuation of the present cabinet, saying they were working to change it quickly but that a caretaker cabinet was necessary to protect popular interests," he added.

The announcement has come after Britain was urged to freeze the assets of many former Egyptian officials. ritish Foreign Secretary William Hague has reportedly told the House of Commons that European Union finance ministers were discussing the request, and that the former officials' accounts would be frozen if found guilty of illegality or misuse of state assets.

Earlier, the Egyptian military had confirmed that it would hold free and fair elections in the country, although a timetable has not been set as of now. (ANI)