Egypt military intelligence chief replaced by deputy

Egyptian officials on Sunday said the director of its powerful military intelligence agency has been replaced by his deputy.

The agency will now be headed by Maj-Gen. Khaled Megawer, a career soldier who commanded the 2nd Army and served as military attache in Washington.

The outgoing director, Maj-Gen. Mohammed Farag el-Shahat, was named an assistant to the defence minister.

Appointments in the Egyptian military are made by the defence minister and ratified by the president, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces.

General-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military intelligence before he was named defence minister in 2012. A year later, he led a military coup against Islamist president Mohammad Morsi. He was elected president in 2014.

Preident Sisi has overseen the largest crackdown on critics seen in Egypt in living memory, jailing thousands of pro-democracy activists, reversing freedoms won in the 2011 uprising, silencing critics and placing draconian rules on rights groups.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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