Egypt's reshuffled cabinet will not be sworn in until Prime Minister Essam Sharaf recovers from a drop in blood pressure and returns to work, cabinet sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

About 15 new ministers were supposed to take the oath of office on Monday but the ceremony was delayed when Sharaf, locked in negotiations over the composition of a new cabinet demanded by protesters, was taken to hospital.         

"The new cabinet oath and negotiations over appointing other ministers is delayed until Essam Sharaf's return to the cabinet," one cabinet source said, adding that Sharaf may return by the end of this week.         

The reshuffle is meant to assuage protesters camped out in central Cairo since July 8 to demand faster political and economic reforms by Egypt's ruling military council and a deeper purge of officials of former President Hosni Mubarak. - Reuters