Egypt's military says prime minister has resigned

CAIRO (AP) — The prime minister appointed by ousted President Hosni Mubarak has resigned, Egypt's military rulers said today, meeting a key demand of the opposition protest movement.

In a failed attempt to quiet the anti-government protests, Mubarak named former air force officer Ahmed Shafiq to be prime minister shortly after the unrest began Jan. 25. Mubarak stepped down Feb. 11 and the military took control of the country, but Shafiq remained in office at the head of a caretaker government.

A brief statement posted on the military's official website said it had chosen former Transport Minister Essam Sharaf as the new prime minister and asked him to form a new caretaker Cabinet to run the government throughout a transition back to civilian rule.

Sharaf served in the Cabinet between 2004 and 2006. He quit amid an uproar over a series of deadly train accidents blamed on government negligence.

Sharaf, an engineer by profession, has visited the anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, the uprising's epicenter, something that endeared him to the youth groups behind the opposition movement.