Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has said on its website that the ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his family are under house arrest. The Supreme Council stated, "There is no truth to reports that former President Hosni Mubarak has left Egypt for Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. He is under house arrest, with his family, in Egypt." The Supreme Council announced on March 28 that the hated emergency laws will be lifted before parliamentary elections set for September this year. The council also issued a decree easing conditions for forming new political parties. Under the new decree, new parties must have 5,000 members in 10 provinces with 300 members in each of them in order to gain recognition. Egypt has 29 provinces. The Supreme Council, however, banned the formation of political parties on religious grounds and those discriminating against citizens based on their race or faith.1

• 1. “Mubarak and family under house arrest”, Arab News, March 28, 2011, at http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article333634.ece