CAIRO, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi announced Tuesday Egypt's state of emergency would be lifted Wednesday on the anniversary of the revolution.
Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, made the announcement in a televised address Tuesday.
"I have taken a decision to end the state of emergency starting on the morning of Jan. 25, 2012," he said.
The state of emergency, in effect for the 10 months since SCAF assumed power, allows the detention of citizens without trial.
During the last 10 months, al-Arabiya reports about 12,000 such arrests have taken place. During the 30 years President Hosni Mubarak employed emergency law, only 2,000 arrests were made.
Emergency law also prohibits gatherings and protests and imposes restrictions on the freedom of the press.
Tantawi said emergency law would still apply in cases of "thuggery" but did not elaborate.
