The 30-year-long state of emergency in Egypt will be lifted from Wednesday, the head of the country’s ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, said on Tuesday.

"I have made a decision to end the state of emergency starting on the morning of January 25, 2012," Tantawi said in a televised address.

Wednesday is the first anniversary of the start of an uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Tantawi added that the emergency law would still be applied in cases of "thuggery."

The head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) also said the military would reassume its traditional role after the transitional period ends.

Tantawi and the SCAF he leads took over power in Egypt when Mubarak was toppled.

The state of emergency has been in place since 1981, when extremists killed President Anwar Sadat.