Sisi meets Egypt army brass to quit ahead of poll

Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was in a meeting with military top brass Wednesday at which he was expected to resign ahead of a likely presidential bid, state media reported.

Interim president Adly Mansour later joined the meeting, after returning from an Arab League summit in Kuwait, the military said.

Before the meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Sisi gathered his belongings at his office in the defence ministry, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported on its website.

During the meeting, Mansour promoted army chief of staff Lieutenant General Sedki Sobhi, who will replace Sisi as armed forces commander, to the rank of general, his office said.

Sisi, who is also defence minister, must resign from the army before he can stand for the presidency in an election expected to be held before June.

He is easily the country's most popular political figure after he overthrew the freely elected but divisive Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.

Sisi is riding on wave of nationalist fervour and demands for a firm leader who can restore stability after more than three years of turmoil since the overthrow of veteran president Hosni Mubarak.

But Morsi's supporters have not given up their campaign of protests against his ouster. At least one person was killed on Wednesday in clashes between pro-Morsi students and police, the health ministry said.

In all, at least 1,400 people, mostly Morsi supporters, have been killed in violence since his overthrow.