CAIRO - Egypt's interim authorities named a new prosecutor general on Wednesday, completing a contentious legal process that removed the man appointed by deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

Former appeals court judge Hisham Barakat was appointed by Adli Mansour, the interim head of state named by the army, which toppled Mursi last week. He fills a vacancy created when Mursi's appointee Talaat Abdullah was removed by a court last week.

The court initially ordered Abdullah to be replaced by Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, his predecessor from the era of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Abdullah quickly resigned, leaving the post vacant.

Abdullah was one of the figures in Mursi's government most strongly opposed by Mursi's foes, who accused him of harassing journalists and critics of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.