Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud announced he has submitted a request to the Supreme Judicial Council on Tuesday, officially declining to continue work in his position.
Originally appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud said challenges facing Egypt demanded "honest chivalry and transparent responsibility."
"These days, Egypt is facing the perils of a conspiracy prepared by evil powers that want sedition and segregation," he warned. "This renders it obligatory for us to unite to defend the values of justice and the rule of law and to fight our battles with honest chivalry and transparent responsibility."
Mahmoud added there was a need in Egypt to stop interference in the work of the public prosecution, pointing to attempts to "Brotherhoodise" the judiciary under former president, Mohamed Morsy.
The prosecutor general said he had earlier pledged to restore impartiality within the public prosecution so that judicial loyalty was to Egypt alone. This goal had been achieved for the most part, he claimed.
“And so I have on Tuesday 9 July 2013 submitted a request to the Supreme Judicial Council where I decline to continue as prosecutor general. From this moment I have nothing to do with this senior position which I have held for years."
Mahmoud said his time as prosecutor general had been the "most cherished and most difficult" of his life.
Mahmoud said that he is proud to return to work in Egypt's judiciary.
On 2 July, Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld a previous ruling ordering the return of former Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud to his post.
In November 2012, ousted President Mohamed Morsy issued a Constitutional Declaration that named Talaat Abdallah as the new prosecutor general.
Edited translation from MENA
