The move comes two days earlier than expected, after a court ruling. 

 

An aide to the prime minister said the measures had ended at 14:00 GMT, but the government later said it was still waiting for the text of the ruling. 

 

The measures were introduced on 14 August after security forces forcibly ended sit-ins in support of ousted¹ Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

 

They had been due to last a month, but the government extended them for two more months on 12 September.

 

 

An adviser² to Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi told the BBC that both the state of emergency and the 01:00-05:00 curfew were lifted with effect from 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

 

This followed the ruling by the administrative³ court that said the decree extending the measures should only be effective for two calendar months.

 

However, a cabinet statement then said Cairo was still waiting for the text of the ruling before implementing⁴ it.

 

The statement also stressed that the army-backed government would abide⁵ by the verdict.

 

The state of emergency and the curfew allowed the authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people's homes. 

 

Many people have also blamed the curfew for a fall in business in Cairo - at a time when the government is trying to create jobs and revive the economy.

 

The measures were introduced after hundreds of people died following the clearing of the pro-Morsi camps in the capital. 

 

Mr Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the army in July following widespread demonstrations⁶ against his rule. 

 

He is currently on trial for allegedly inciting⁷ the killing⁸ of protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012. 

 

Egyptians lived under a state of emergency - which gives extra powers to the security services - for more than three decades, until President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power amid mass protests in 2011. 

 

Even with Thursday's moves, Egypt's military-backed government will still be keeping a tight grip, the BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo reports. 

 

The authorities say security forces will be deployed⁹ on main streets and in city centres across the country to tighten¹⁰ control, our correspondent says. 

 

And she adds that stringent¹¹ new limits on freedom of movement are expected to be introduced soon, in a law regulating public protest. 

 

Human rights campaigners say the proposals will give police the power to ban protests outright¹². 

 

A draft legislation - currently being considered by Interim¹³ President Adly Mahmud Mansour - requires protest organisers to notify police in advance of any meeting of more than 10 people, in public or in private.

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