Egypt's transport minister steps down

Cairo: Egypt's Minister of Transport, Mohammad Mansour, on Tuesday resigned after being severely criticised over a train crash, which left 18 passengers dead on Saturday.

President Hosni Mubarak accepted the resignation, according to the official Middle East News Agency. "According to the rules of the Egyptian Cabinet, the Minister of Electricity will take charge of transport until a new minister is named," the agency quoted Majdi Radi, the Egyptian government spokesman as saying.

Mansour, who had been the minister of transport since 2004, insisted on quitting after the latest crash brought him under severe criticisms in the local media and the parliament, said sources.

During an emergency meeting of the parliament's transport committee on Monday, opposition MPs accused the government of being responsible for the accident, one of the worst in Egypt's rail history.

Mansour's resignation is the first by an official in many years in this country.