Egypt’s liberal opposition has called for more protests on Sunday after the president made concessions overnight that fell short of their demands to rescind a draft constitution going to a referendum on Dec. 15. Morsi met one of the opposition’s demands overnight, rescinding his Nov. 22 decrees that gave him near unrestricted powers. But he insisted on going ahead with the referendum on a constitution adopted by his Islamist allies. The opposition National Salvation Front called on supporters to rally Sunday against the referendum.
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Hugo Chavez says he needs cancer surgery again
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is heading back to Cuba on Sunday for more surgery for cancer, announcing on television that the illness has returned after two previous operations, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Chavez acknowledged the seriousness of his situation in an address Saturday night, saying for the first time that if he suffers complications Vice President Nicolas Maduro should take his place as Venezuela‘s leader and continue his socialist movement. “There are risks. Who can deny it?” Chavez said, seated at the presidential palace beside Maduro and other aides. “In any circumstance, we should guarantee the advance of the Bolivarian Revolution,” Chavez said. Outside medical experts said that based on Chavez’s account of his condition, he is facing a very difficult fight against an aggressive type of cancer. The president, who just returned from Cuba early Friday, said tests had found a return of “some malignant cells” in the same area where tumors were previously removed. Chavez, who has yet to be sworn in for his new term after winning re-election on Oct. 7, said he would return to Havana on Sunday and would undergo the operation in the coming days. Chavez’s quick trip home appeared aimed at sending a clear directive to his inner circle that Maduro is his chosen successor. He called for his allies to pull together, saying: “Unity, unity, unity.” Chavez said his doctors had recommended he have the surgery right away, but that he had told them he wanted to return to Venezuela first. “I want to go there. I need to go to Venezuela,” Chavez recalled telling his doctors. “And what I came for was this,” he said, seated below a portrait of independence hero Simon Bolivar, the inspiration of his Bolivarian Revolution movement. Chavez named Maduro, his longtime foreign minister, as his choice for vice president three days after winning re-election. Maduro, a burly former bus driver, has shown unflagging loyalty and become a leading spokesman for Venezuela‘s socialist leader in recent years. The vice president’s expression was solemn as Chavez said that Maduro should become president if any complication were to prevent him from finishing his current term, which concludes in early January. Chavez said that if new elections are held, his movement’s candidate should be Maduro. “In that scenario, which under the constitution would require presidential elections to be held again, you all elect Nicolas Maduro as president,” Chavez said. “I ask that of you from my heart.” Chavez held a small blue copy of the constitution in his hands and waved it. The Venezuelan constitution says that if a president-elect dies before taking office, a new election should be held within 30 days and that in the meantime the president of the National Assembly is to be in charge of the government. While he spoke, Chavez was flanked by both Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello. Chavez is scheduled to be sworn in for a new six-year term Jan. 10, and he called his relapse a “new battle.” This will be his third operation to remove cancerous tissue in about a year and a half. The 58-year-old president first underwent surgery for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer in Cuba in June 2011, after an operation for a pelvic abscess earlier in the month found the cancer. He had another cancer surgery last February after a tumor appeared in the same area. He has also undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Chavez said tests immediately after his re-election win had shown no sign of cancer. But he said he had swelling and pain, which he thought was due to “the effort of the campaign and the radiation therapy treatment.” “It’s a very sensitive area, so we started to pay a lot of attention to that,” he said, adding that he had reduced his public appearances. Chavez made his most recent trip to Cuba on the night of Nov. 27, saying he would receive hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Such treatment is regularly used to help heal tissues damaged by radiation treatment. Chavez said that while he was in Cuba tests detected the recurrence of cancer. He arrived back in Caracas on Friday after 10 days of medical treatment, but until Saturday night had not referred to his health. His unexplained decision to skip a summit of regional leaders in Brazil on Friday had raised suspicions among many Venezuelans that his health had taken a turn for the worse. “I hope to give you all good news in the coming days,” said Chavez, who held up a crucifix and kissed it. “With the grace of God, we’ll come out victorious.” Dr. Carlos Castro, scientific director of the League Against Cancer in neighboring Colombia, told The Associated Press that he expects the operation will likely be followed by more chemotherapy. “It’s behaving like a sarcoma, and sarcoma doesn’t forgive,” Castro said, adding that he wouldn’t be surprised if the cancer had also spread to the lungs or other areas. “We knew this was going to happen,” he said. “This isn’t good.” Throughout his treatment, Chavez has kept secret various details about his illness, including the precise location of the tumors and the type of cancer. He has said he travels to Cuba for treatment because his cancer was diagnosed by doctors there. Dr. Michael Pishvaian, an oncologist at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, said in a phone interview that he wasn’t surprised by the news. “I think this is recurrent cancer that at this point is almost certainly not going to go away,” Pishvaian said. “It’s unlikely that what he’s going through now is curable.” He speculated that given what Chavez has said about his cancer, it is most likely a soft-tissue sarcoma. He said those in the pelvis area have a likelihood of recurring of 50 percent to 70 percent, even with the best treatment. ___ Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas and Frank Bajak in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report. ___ Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap
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Morsi reportedly backs down, relinquishes part of sweeping decree
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has reportedly annulled part of a controversial decree that put his decisions beyond judicial review and sparked large protests.
Article 6 is part of a draft constitution that will still go to referendum on schedule on Dec. 15, as recommended by members of a presidential national dialogue committee.
It remains unclear whether Morsi has completely abandoned the decree, or has reworked it in an effort to show willingness to the opposition.
There is no official comment from the opposition.
Source: Fox World News
Egypt panel recommends referendum be held on time
Members of a presidential national dialogue committee have recommended that a referendum on a disputed constitution be held on schedule but that the president rescind some powers he had given himself.
Saturday’s statement came after a meeting that was boycotted by the main opposition leaders and did not suggest that President Mohammed Morsi meet demands for the Dec. 15 vote to be canceled.
Selim al-Awa, an Islamist at the meeting, says the committee recommended removing articles that granted Morsi powers to declare emergency laws and shield him from judicial oversight.
The decision is unlikely to appease the opposition since it recommends the referendum go ahead as scheduled. Morsi’s initial declaration was to be rendered ineffective anyway after the constitution is approved.
The majority of the 54 committee members were Islamists.
Source: Fox World News
Egypt’s military returns to the political fray
Egypt‘s powerful military, sidelined last summer by the newly elected Islamist president, edged back Saturday into a political fray boiling over with tensions between secular forces and a government determined to pass a constitution enshrining a central role for religion. A military statement warning of “disastrous” consequences should the standoff continue was widely interpreted as pushing President Mohammed Morsi to compromise and meet the opposition halfway over a draft constitution and the near-absolute powers he gave himself. A direct military intervention to stave off bloodshed would likely enjoy the paradoxical and tacit support, at least initially, of some pro-democracy activists mortified by the authoritarian bent and Islamist ambitions of the freely elected Muslim Brotherhood-backed government. Egypt‘s military, which had been the nation’s de facto ruler since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup, remains the country’s most powerful institution. But it has kept a low profile since Morsi ordered the retirement of its top two officers in August and canceled a constitutional declaration that gave it legislative powers when parliament’s law-making chamber was dissolved by a court ruling. The carefully worded statement appeared designed in part to show the military’s growing impatience with the deepening political crisis pitting Morsi and his Islamist supporters against secular and liberal forces, including minority Christians. It said dialogue was the “best and only” way to overcome the nation’s deepening conflict. “Anything other than that (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences; something that we won’t allow,” it warned. “Failing to reach a consensus,” is in the interest of neither side, it added. “The nation as a whole will pay the price.” Following its return to the barracks in June after a 16-month stint leading the country after Hosni Mubarak‘s ouster, the military has been busy cleaning up its image and focusing on its core task. Morsi, meanwhile, has since taking office five months ago been going out of his way to assure the generals that he has no intention of meddling in their affairs. The draft constitution hurriedly adopted by Morsi’s Islamist backers also leaves the armed forces as an entity above oversight. Whether the military wants to return to the messy business of running a nation torn by divisions and beset by political turmoil and chronic economic woes may be doubtful. However, many, in view of Saturday’s statement, see the possibility of a limited and temporary intervention to save the country from civil strife if the need arises. A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan, said he saw the statement as an expression of support for Morsi, but lamented the military’s return to the political fray. “We don’t accept the interference of the military,” he said. Mohammed Waked, a prominent activist of the National Front for Justice and Democracy and a veteran of last year’s uprising against Mubarak’s rule, said any attempt by the military to return to power would initially be successful given heightened fear of violence. “We will oppose it … but there is a larger segment in society now that is willing to accept it more than before,” he added. “It is in Morsi’s hands.” Abdullah el-Sinawi, a prominent commentator close to the military, said the statement was a warning to Morsi and his Islamist backers to reach an agreement with their opponents to prevent the country’s security from unraveling. “We don’t want a coup, and the military itself doesn’t want to return to politics. But if it is forced to interfere to restore security, it will,” el-Sinawi said. “The onus is on Morsi.” Mostafa el-Naggar, a former lawmaker and protest leader during last year’s anti-Mubarak uprising, speculated that it could not have been easy for the military to issue the statement after the scathing criticism it endured for its running of the country starting from Mubarak’s ouster in February, 2011 and June this year when it handed power to Morsi, the country’s first civilian and freely elected president. “It means a return to political life,” el-Naggar said of the statement. “The military is saying it is still here and will interfere when necessary.” Egypt‘s military long enjoyed an aura of invincibility. All four presidents before Morsi hailed from the armed forces, which considers itself the ultimate guarantor of the nation’s sovereignty and safety. Army generals taking powerful jobs on retirement in the state-owned public sector and as provincial governors ensured that the military’s influence extended beyond the armed forces, which have over the years built an economic empire above oversight of any kind. But its reputation was shattered in the aftermath of Mubarak’s ouster. Until Morsi came to power in June as the nation’s first freely elected president, Egypt‘s military had been struggling with protesters accusing it of trying to stall the transition to democracy after Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February 2011. It faced allegations of human rights violations, including torturing detainees, and scenes of elite troops beating up peaceful protesters, including women, on the streets hurt its standing as the defender of the nation. This week’s scenes of Brotherhood supporters armed with sticks carrying out military-type drills on streets close to Morsi’s palace in the upscale Heliopolis district have revived suspicions that the fundamentalist group is running militias and made the prospect of an army intervention more palatable. “The escalation of the conflict into civil strife becomes a risk to the military’s interests and the country as a whole,” said Michael W. Hanna, an Egypt expert from the New York-based Century Foundation. “So, the statement is a reminder of the potential role of the military and a signal for civilians to manage the political process.” Egypt‘s ongoing crisis is the worst since Mubarak’s ouster, with the two sides repeatedly bringing out tens of thousands of supporters on the streets often fighting with firebombs, sticks and rocks in deadly clashes. Offices of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood have been attacked, sometimes torched, by his opponents. With neither side willing to compromise and a flurry of threats of violence by radical Islamists, the specter of more and widespread violence is real. The military’s role in the ongoing crisis began Thursday with troops sealing off the area around Morsi’s Cairo palace — scene of mass opposition rallies and deadly clashes — with tanks, armored vehicles and barbed wire. Images of elite Republican Guards‘ troops surrounding the palace area were the most high-profile troop deployment since the army handed power to Morsi in June. The troops, however, have been anything but hostile to the opposition protesters in the area, allowing them on Friday to bypass their lines and surge ahead all the way to the walls of the palace, which they covered with anti-Morsi graffiti. Protesters also have painted anti-Morsi graffiti on the tanks and hoisted banners denouncing the president’s Muslim Brotherhood on the palace walls. The deployment, however, was received with mixed feelings — underlining the tenuous relations between the two sides and the lingering fear of a return to military rule. Some in the crowd posed with army officers for pictures, as soldiers assured them they won’t let anyone harm them. But others rejected the military’s reassurances, and one female protester shouted to the officers that their tanks had protesters’ blood on them, a reference to a violent crackdown by the military on a protest last year. Many protesters also heckled a small crowd that chanted “the military and the people are one hand.” Omar Abdel-Halim, a 28-year-old veteran of the 2011 uprising, says he and his comrades will reserve judgment on a possible intervention by the military. If there is large scale bloodshed between the revolutionaries and the Islamists, he added, the army may not even be able to end it. “I think troops will just deploy to protect state institutions. They are not equipped to go after combatants on side streets and in alleys.”
Source: Fox World News
French island of Corsica hit by attacks
A man was shot dead and several houses were bombed on the French island of Corsica, a vacation destination that has seen a wave of gang killings this year and is also home to a simmering nationalist movement. The attacks Friday night come after the series of killings that has outraged France and prompted the government to vow to stamp out the violence that has long been allowed to simmer on the island in the Mediterranean Sea known for its mountain vistas and rugged beaches. The Paris prosecutor’s office said Saturday it is investigating the series of explosions, including their possible links to terrorist or criminal organizations. The office said at least 17 houses were hit on Friday night; no one was hurt in the attacks and most are believed to have been at vacation homes. TV footage showed broken glass littering the floors of one of the homes attacked Friday night. It sat on a cliff overlooking the water and looked to still be under construction. Protecting Corsica‘s wild landscapes has long been part of the nationalist fight and coastal homes have drawn particular ire. Many are built on land that is supposed to be protected and left undeveloped. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that on Friday a man was arrested in possession of explosives. It was not clear if he was suspected in the bombings. Authorities were treating the shooting death of a man on the island separately. Corsica has seen more than a dozen such murders this year, apparently carried out by criminal gangs. But the violence — well known to residents — recently burst onto the national scene with the killings of a prominent businessman and defense lawyer. The government vowed to restore order, and Valls said Friday’s arrest was proof those efforts were bearing fruit. But the wave of bombings is sure to increase the pressure even further and could arouse suspicions that the homegrown nationalist movement is radicalizing again. Twenty years ago, the island was the scene of dozens of bombings, most of them linked to the movement, which has fought for Corsica’s distinct language and culture since the island was definitively taken over by the French under Napoleon in 1796. Saturday marks the anniversary of the adoption of the island’s 18th-century constitution and is celebrated by some as the island’s national day.
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Egypt: military warns of ‘disastrous consequences’
Egypt‘s military warned on Saturday of “disastrous consequences” if the crisis that sent tens of thousands of protesters back into the streets is not resolved, signaling the army’s return to an increasingly polarized and violent political scene. The military said serious dialogue is the “best and only” way to overcome the nation’s deepening conflict over a disputed draft constitution hurriedly adopted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and recent decrees granting himself near-absolute powers. “Anything other than that (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences; something which we won’t allow,” the statement said. It was read by an unnamed military official on state television. Morsi had called for a dialogue Saturday to discuss how to resolve the disagreement as his vice president suggested that a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum could be delayed. But the main opposition leaders declined to attend, saying talks can only take place if Morsi rescinds his decrees and cancels the referendum. Most of the public figures at the meeting were Islamists, with the exception of liberal opposition politician Ayman Nour. And at least three members left the talks soon after they started. Ahmed Mahran, a lawyer who was among them, said: “It was a one-way conversation,” accusing presidential advisers of refusing to listen. Egypt‘s once all-powerful military, which temporarily took over governing the country after the revolution that ousted autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, was largely sidelined weeks after Morsi was elected. Weeks after he was sworn in, Morsi ordered the two top generals to retire and gave himself legislative powers that the military had assumed in the absence of a parliament, which had been dissolved by the courts. The current crisis was sparked Nov. 22 when Morsi granted himself authority free of judicial oversight, alleging that judges loyal to the former regime were threatening the constitutional drafting process and the transition to democracy. But the move touched off a new wave of opposition and unprecedented clashes between the president’s Islamist supporters led by the Muslim Brotherhood and protesters accusing him of becoming a new strongman. At least six civilians have been killed and several offices of the president’s Muslim Brotherhood torched in the unrest. The two sides also have staged a number of sit-ins around state institutions, including the presidential palace where some of the most violent clashes occurred. With the increasing polarization and the specter of internal fighting looming, the military began reasserting itself, with soldiers sealing off the presidential palace with tanks and barbed wire. Its warning on Saturday marked the first time the military returned to the political fray. Failing to reach a consensus, “is in the interest of neither side. The nation as a whole will pay the price,” the military said, adding it “realizes its national responsibility in protecting the nation’s higher interests” and state institutions. Images of the military’s elite Republican Guards unit surrounding the area around the palace also showed one of the most high-profile troop deployment since the army handed over power to Morsi on June 30. A sit-in by Morsi’s opponents around the palace continued Saturday, with protesters setting up roadblocks with tanks behind them amid reports that the president’s supporters planned rival protests. By midday Saturday, TV footage showed the military setting up a new wall of cement blocks around the palace. The president has insisted his decrees were meant to protect the country’s transition to democracy from former regime figures trying to derail it. Muslim Brotherhood leaders, meanwhile, made their highest profile appearances since the dispute began. The group’s top leader Mohammed Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater held press conferences Saturday alleging there was a conspiracy to topple Morsi but presenting little proof. Badie said the opposition has accused his group of violence but is instead responsible for the attacks on Muslim Brotherhood offices. He also claimed that most of those killed in last week’s violence at the Palace and other governorates were members of the Brotherhood. “These are crimes, not opposition or disagreement in opinion,” he said. Meanwhile, with a dialogue largely boycotted by the main opposition players, members of a so-called Alliance of Islamists forces warned it will take all measures to protect “legitimacy” and the president, in comments signaling continued tension. “We will not allow the revolution to be stolen again,” el-Shater said. “Our main job is to support legitimacy and stop the plot to bring down the president.” Mostafa el-Naggar, a former lawmaker and protest leader during the uprising that led to Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, said the conspiracy alleged by the Brotherhood “doesn’t exist.” El-Naggar added that the Brotherhood and military statements suggested the crisis was far from over. “The military is saying it is still here and will interfere when necessary. This is believed to be when there is widespread infighting,” he said. Meanwhile, he said Morsi and his group are threatening to widen the conflict by portraying the opposition as conspirators against Islam. “As it stands, Egypt is captive to internal decisions of the Brotherhood,” he said.
Source: Fox World News
Brotherhood leader urges Egyptians to disown violence after deadly clashes
The spiritual leader of Egypt‘s fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood is urging Egyptians to disown violence, saying that working through the ballot box is the best way to lift the country out of its current political crisis.
Egypt has been engulfed in turmoil linked to a contentious draft constitution backed by President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, and his Islamist allies.
Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badie says the group’s supporters did not initiate the violent clashes this week outside the presidential palace that left at least six people dead.
Badie’s remarks Saturday morning came ahead of a meeting Morsi has called with his opponents to discuss the crisis. The opposition has rejected talks, saying Morsi must first cancel the referendum on the draft constitution set for Dec. 15.
Early voting on the disputed constitution was postponed Friday, signaling an attempt by Morsi’s government to back down and give room for negotiations with the opposition as it faces mass protests calling for the referendum to be canceled.
The announcement made by the head of Egypt‘s election committee Ismail Hamdi came a day after Morsi appealed for dialogue even as he accused tens of thousands of protesters marching on his palace of being infiltrated by thugs. He has so far made no concrete concessions to defuse the crisis that has plunged the country into new turmoil and the two sides appeared at a deadlock.
Egypt political crisis has been building up since Morsi issued a decree on Nov. 22 that gave him absolute powers and immunity from judicial oversight.
The crisis intensified when Morsi called for a Dec. 15 national referendum on the draft constitution produced by Islamists-led constituent assembly after rushing it in a marathon session. Liberals had quit the assembly, which was already facing legal appeals to disband it. The draft came with loopholes and was infused with articles that liberals fear would pave the way for Islamizing Egypt.
The opposition has rejected talks, saying Morsi must first cancel the referendum and meet other demands.
Hamdi said the weeklong voting by Egyptians abroad, which had been due to begin Saturday, will begin Wednesday instead.
It was not immediately clear if the postponement was a concession or how that would affect the overall referendum timeline.
But Legal Affairs Minister Mohammed Mahsoub said the administration was weighing several proposals. He said those included calling off the referendum and returning the draft to the constituent assembly for changes or disbanding the whole constituent assembly and forming a new one, either by direct vote or upon an agreement among the political forces.
“We have a big chance tomorrow,” he said referring to what he said a meeting between political forces with Morsi. “There are no deadlines or referendums outside the country. Tomorrow or day after, we might reach a good agreement,” he told the network.
Egypt‘s Vice President Mahmoud Mekki also told the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera that he had contacted leading democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei to join the president in dialogue. ElBaradei is leading the newly formed National Salvation Front, an umbrella group of liberals and youth groups that opposed Morsi’s decrees.
He added that “until now the referendum is due Dec. 15” until agreement could be reached.
Before the announcement, after night fell, tens of thousands of Egyptian protesters pushed past barbed wire fences installed by the army and march on the presidential palace, calling for Morsi to “leave.”
But on hearing the postponement of vote for Egyptians abroad, some expressed optimism.
“This looks like the beginning of a retraction,” said 56-year-old doctor Mohsen Ibrahim. “This means Morsi may postpone the referendum. It looks like the pressure is working out.”
But he warned that “if Morsi doesn’t see the numbers of people protesting, then he will be repeating the same mistake of (Hosni) Mubarak.”
Source: Fox World News
Anger in the streets as Egyptian president’s backers and opposition clash
Egypt‘s political crisis spiraled deeper into bitterness and recrimination Friday as thousands of Islamist backers of the president vowed vengeance at a funeral for two men killed in bloody clashes earlier this week and large crowds of the president’s opponents marched on his palace to increase pressure after he rejected their demands.
The two camps in the country’s divide appeared at a deadlock, after President Mohammed Morsi gave a fiery televised speech Thursday night denouncing his opponents and refusing to call off a referendum on a draft constitution promulgated by his allies, even as he appealed for dialogue. The opposition rejected talks, saying he must first cancel the referendum and meet other demands.
With Egypt‘s crisis now in its third week, anger was mounting in the streets, after the two camps clashed Wednesday in heavy battles outside the presidential palace that left six dead and more than 700 injured.
Each side is depicting the conflict as an all-out fight for Egypt‘s future. The opposition accuses Morsi and his Islamist allies of turning increasingly dictatorial to force their agenda on the country and monopolize power. The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, and other Islamists say the opposition is trying to use the streets to overturn their victories in elections over the past year.
The tone was one of a battle cry as thousands of Islamists held funeral prayers Friday at Al-Azhar Mosque — the country’s premier Islamic institution — for two Morsi supporters killed in Wednesday’s clashes. Seeking to rally their side, a series of speakers to the crowd portrayed the opposition as tools of the regime of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak — or as decadent and un-Islamic — and vowed to defend a constitution they say brings Islamic law to Egypt.
“Egypt is Islamic, it will not be secular, it will not be liberal,” the crowd chanted in a funeral procession filling streets around the mosque. During the funeral, thousands chanted, “With blood and soul, we redeem Islam,” pumping their fists in the air. Mourners yelled that opposition leaders were “murderers.”
One hardline cleric speaking to the crowd denounced anti-Morsi protesters as “traitors.” Another declared that they will not allow Egypt to become “a den of hash smokers.”
“We march on this path in sacrifice for the nation and our martyrs,” a leading Brotherhood figure, Mohammed el-Beltagi, told the crowd. “We will keep going even if we all become martyrs. We will avenge them or die like them.
“Bread! Freedom! Islamic Law!” the crowd chanted, twisting the revolutionary slogan of “Bread! Freedom! Social Justice!” used by leftists and secular activists in the 2011 uprising against Mubarak.
At the same time, thousands of protesters against Morsi streamed in several marches from different parts of Cairo toward his presidential palace in an upscale neighborhood for a third straight day. Many were furious over the president’s speech the night before in which he accused “hired thugs” of attacking protesters outside the palace Wednesday, sparking the clashes. Most witnesses say the clashes began with Morsi supporters attacked a tent camp set up by anti-Morsi protesters.
At the rings of barbed wire outside the palace, protesters chanted, “Leave, leave,” and “the people want the fall of the regime.” Egypt‘s military intervened on Thursday for the first time, posting tanks around the palace and stringing barbed wire. Morsi attended weekly Friday prayers at the Republican Guards‘ mosque near the palace — after he was denounced by worshippers last week at a mosque near his home in a Cairo suburb where he often prays.
The National Salvation Front, the main opposition umbrella group, blasted Morsi’s speech, saying he was “surprisingly in denial to facts that millions of people in Egypt and around the world have seen” — that the violence Wednesday came from “clear and blatant instigation by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which the president hails.”
In a statement Friday, the group repeated its rejection of Morsi’s call for dialogue saying he must first meet their demands. The opposition says Morsi must rescind decrees he issued last month giving himself sweeping powers and neutralizing the judiciary and cancel the planned Dec. 15 referendum on the draft constitution.
“After the bloodshed, we will not put our hands in the hands of those who killed new martyrs,” Hamdeen Sabahi, a leading figure in the National Salvation Front, told protesters gathered Friday in central Tahrir Square.
The April 6 movement, which played a key role in sparking the uprising against Mubarak, called its supporters to gather at mosques in Cairo and the neighboring city of Giza to march to the palace. They termed Friday’s march a “red card” for Morsi, a reference to a football referee sending a player off the field for a serious violation.
Rival protests also took place in cities around the country, including in the cities of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast and Luxor in the south. The two sides pelted each other with stones outside the headquarters of the Brotherhood office in Nile Delta city of Kom Hamada, in the province of Beheira. In the Delta industrial city of Mahallah, protesters cut railroads stopping trains and announcing a sit in until cancelation of Morsi’s decrees and the referendum.
In the southern city of Assiut, hundreds of protesters marched chanting, “Down with the rule of the General Guide,” referring to the head of the Muslim Brotherhood. “No Brotherhood, no Salafis, Egypt is a civic state,” they said. Mohammed Abdel Ellah one of the protests’ coordinators said that the secular groups are organizing street campaigns against the draft constitution to get the public to vote “no” if it comes to a referendum.
“We explain the draft to the people so they won’t be fooled in the poison in honey,” he said.
At the same time, Muslim preachers in Assiut mosques called on worshippers to support Morsi. One cleric in the nearby village of Qussiya denounced the opposition as “those with wicked hearts” and “enemies of God’s rule.”
“The enemies of the president are enemies of God, Shariah and legitimacy” another preachers said, adding that it is prohibited to protest against the ruler.
Morsi has been hit by a string of resignations by some of his top aides protesting the week’s violence. Criticism is also growing from Egyptian journalists, including those working for state-run news organizations, over what they say are attempts by Islamists to control the media.
The head of state television resigned in objection to official coverage of the crisis. On Thursday, dozens of Egyptian journalists from the state-run Al-Ahram daily protested in front of the paper’s headquarters denouncing the editorial policy of the paper. The paper had been seen as the mouthpiece under Mubarak’s rule.
Also on Thursday, prominent television presenter Khairy Ramadan resigned on air after the private network he works for banned Sabahi from appearing on air for an interview. The TV network is owned by a businessman who was believed to be linked to old regime.
Source: Fox World News
Egypt opposition calls protests against president
Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets after Friday midday prayers in rival rallies and marches across Cairo, as the standoff deepened over what opponents call the Islamist president’s power grab, raising the specter of more violence. President Mohammed Morsi responded to bloody clashes outside his palace with a fiery speech denouncing his opponents, deepening the crisis. The opposition turned down his appeal for talks, saying the president had not fulfilled their conditions for beginning negotiations. Protesters are demanding that Morsi rescind decrees that give him almost absolute power and push an Islamist-friendly constitution to a referendum on Dec. 15. The decrees sparked a crisis that has boiled for more than two weeks. Demonstrations have reached the size and intensity of those that brought down President Hosni Mubarak early last year. In a televised address late Thursday, an angry Morsi refused to call off the vote on the disputed constitution. He accused some in the opposition of serving remnants of Mubarak’s regime and vowed he would never tolerate anyone working for the overthrow of his government. He also invited the opposition to a dialogue starting Saturday at his palace, but he gave no sign that he might offer any meaningful concessions. Morsi’s opponents replied they would not talk until Morsi cancels his decrees. The president’s remarks were his first comments to the public after bloody clashes outside his palace on Wednesday, when thousands of his backers from the Muslim Brotherhood fought with the president’s opponents. Six people were killed and at least 700 injured. The speech brought shouts of “the people want to topple the regime!” from the crowd of 30,000 Morsi opponents gathered outside his palace — the same chant heard in the protests that brought down Mubarak. Since the crisis erupted, the opposition has tried to forge a united front. The squabbling groups created a National Salvation Front to bring them together, naming Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, the country’s top reform campaigner, as its leader. Speaking on the new umbrella group’s behalf, ElBaradei responded to Morsi’s speech in his own televised remarks, saying that Morsi’s government showed reluctance in acting to stop Wednesday night’s bloodshed outside the palace. He said this failure has eroded the government‘s legitimacy and made it difficult for his opposition front to negotiate with the president. ElBaradei said Morsi has not responded to the opposition group’s attempts to “rescue the country” and that the president had “closed the door for dialogue” by “ignoring the demands of the people.” After Friday prayers, protesters began marching to the palace from several different directions. The April 6 movement, which played a key role in sparking the uprising against Mubarak, called its supporters to gather at mosques in Cairo and the neighboring city of Giza to march to the palace. They termed Friday’s march a “red card” for Morsi, a reference to a football referee sending a player off the field for a serious violation. Egypt‘s military intervened on Thursday for the first time, posting tanks around the palace and stringing barbed wire. Also on Friday morning, thousands of Brotherhood members gathered in Cairo outside the mosque of Al-Azhar, Egypt‘s most respected Islamic institution, for the funeral of two members of the fundamentalist group who were killed during Wednesday’s clashes. During the funeral, thousands Islamist mourners chanted, “with blood and soul, we redeem Islam,” pumping their fists in the air. “Egypt is Islamic, it will not be secular, it will not be liberal,” they chanted as they walked in a funeral procession that filled streets around Al-Azhar mosque. Ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis are organizing their own rally Friday against what they say is biased coverage of the crisis by private Egyptian satellite TV channels. ___ Additional reporting from Associated Press writer Maggie Michael.
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More opposition protests planned in Cairo after Morsi stands by power grab
Egypt’s opposition forces are calling for another day of mass demonstrations against the country’s Islamist president’s latest moves.
This follows Wednesday’s bloody clashes at the presidential palace. Six people were killed and at least 700 injured when President Mohammed Morsi‘s backers from the Muslim Brotherhood fought with his opponents.
Protesters are demanding that Morsi rescind decrees that give him almost absolute power and push an Islamist-friendly constitution to a referendum on Dec. 15. Morsi is refusing.
Opposition groups are organizing marches Friday back to the palace. The military intervened on Thursday for the first time, posting tanks around the palace and stringing barbed wire.
Also, ultraconservative Islamists are organizing their own rally Friday against what they say is biased coverage of the two-week-old crisis by private Egyptian satellite TV channels.
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No constitutional workaround for debt ceiling: White House
The Obama administration does not believe that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows the president to ignore the debt ceiling, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday.
Source: Fox Business Headlines
ACLU files complaint after teen sentenced to church in manslaughter case
The ACLU of Oklahoma filed a complaint Tuesday against a judge who made required church attendance part of a teenager’s sentence for manslaughter.
TulsaWorld.com reports 17-year-old Tyler Alred was sentenced to 10 years of probation after he pled guilty to manslaughter as a youthful offender in connection with an alcohol-related crash that killed 16-year-old John Luke Dum.
Muskogee County District Judge Mike Norman made mandatory church attendance for 10 years part of Alred’s requirements to avoid prison. Alred must also wear an ankle bracelet that monitors alcohol consumption, attend victim-impact panels and speak at events about the consequences of drinking and driving, among other requirements.
The ACLU argues in their complaint that Norman’s ruling violates the Oklahoma Code of Judicial Conduct because the decision disregards America’s principles of religious liberty.
“We didn’t file this complaint lightly,” said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma tells TulsaWorld.com. “We believe in a strong and independent judiciary. For us to come to this conclusion really speaks to the level of disregard that Judge Norman has showed towards the U.S. Constitution and the constitution of the state of Oklahoma.”
However, Alred’s defense attorney has said his client did not have an issue with his sentence.
“My client goes to church every Sunday,” Donn Baker said according to TulsaWorld.com. “That isn’t going to be a problem for him. We certainly want the probation for him.”
The Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints now must decide what action, if any, will be taken against Norman. Punishments range from a letter of reprimand to losing a seat on the bench.
Clashes between rival protesters in Cairo kill 3, wound nearly 300
Overnight clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Egypt‘s Islamist leader killed at least three people, the Interior Ministry said Thursday, as the nation further descended into political turmoil over the constitution drafted by President Mohammed Morsi‘s allies.
The street battles outside the presidential palace in the city’s Heliopolis district were the worst violence since Egypt‘s latest political turmoil erupted on Nov. 22, when Morsi assumed near absolute powers.
It was also the first time supporters of rival camps have fought each other since last year’s uprising that toppled authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak.
A statement from the ministry early Thursday said there were also 276 people injured in the clashes, including 35 policemen, as angry mobs battled each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks outside the presidential complex.
The fighting erupted late Wednesday afternoon when thousands of Morsi’s Islamist supporters descended on an area near the presidential palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in. The Islamists, members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace’s main gate and tore down their tents.
After a brief lull, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived and began throwing firebombs at the president’s backers, who responded with rocks. The clashes continued well after nightfall and spread from the immediate vicinity of the palace to residential streets nearby.
The deployment of hundreds of riot police did not stop the fighting. The police later fired tear gas to disperse Morsi’s opponents. Volunteers ferried the wounded on motorcycles to waiting ambulances, which rushed them to hospitals.
By dawn, the violence had calmed. But both sides appeared to be digging in for a long struggle, with the opposition vowing more protests later Thursday and rejecting any dialogue unless the charter is rescinded.
Morsi, for his part, seemed to be pressing relentlessly forward with plans for a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum to pass the new constitution.
The large scale and intensity of the fighting marked a milestone in Egypt‘s rapidly entrenched schism, pitting the Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Islamists in one camp, against liberals, leftists and Christians in the other.
The violence spread to other parts of the country on Wednesday. Anti-Morsi protesters stormed and set ablaze the Brotherhood offices in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo, and there were clashes in the industrial city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah in the Nile Delta north of the capital.
Compounding Morsi‘s woes, four of his advisers resigned Wednesday, joining two other members of his 17-member advisory panel who have abandoned him since the crisis began.
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Islamists battle opponents as Egypt crisis grows
Egypt descended into political turmoil on Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and at least 211 people were wounded as supporters and opponents battled each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks outside the presidential palace. Four more presidential aides resigned in protest over Morsi’s handling of the crisis, and a key opponent of the Islamist president likened Morsi’s rule to that of ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. Both sides were digging in for a long struggle, with the opposition vowing more protests and rejecting any dialogue unless the charter is rescinded, and Morsi pressing relentlessly forward with plans for a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum. “The solution is to go to the ballot box,” declared Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, asserting the charter was “the best constitution Egypt ever had.” The clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo’s Heliopolis district marked an escalation in the deepening crisis. It was the first time supporters of rival camps fought each other since last year’s anti-Mubarak uprising, when the authoritarian leader’s loyalists sent sword-wielding supporters on horses and camels into Cairo’s Tahrir square in what became one of the uprising’s bloodiest days. The large scale and intensity of the fighting marked a milestone in Egypt‘s rapidly entrenched schism, pitting Morsi’s Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Islamists in one camp, against liberals, leftists and Christians in the other. The violence spread to other parts of the country later Wednesday. Anti-Morsi protesters stormed and set ablaze the Brotherhood offices in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo, and there were clashes in the industrial city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah in the Nile Delta north of the capital. Compounding Morsi‘s woes, four of his advisers resigned, joining two other members of his 17-member advisory panel who have abandoned him since the crisis began. Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition reform advocate, said Morsi’s rule was “no different” than Mubarak’s. “In fact, it is perhaps even worse,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told a news conference after he accused the president’s supporters of a “vicious and deliberate” attack on peaceful demonstrators outside the palace. “Cancel the constitutional declarations, postpone the referendum, stop the bloodshed, and enter a direct dialogue with the national forces,” he wrote on his Twitter account, addressing Morsi. “History will give no mercy and the people will not forget.” The opposition is demanding that Morsi rescind the decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve the controversial draft constitution the president’s Islamist allies rushed through last week in a marathon, all-night session shown live on state TV. The huge scale of the opposition protests has dealt a blow to the legitimacy of the new charter, which Morsi’s opponents contend allows religious authorities too much influence over legislation, threatens to restrict freedom of expression and opens the door to Islamist control over day-to-day life. In addition, the country’s powerful judges say they will not take on their customary role of overseeing the referendum. Zaghloul el-Balshi, secretary general of the state committee organizing the referendum, said on the private Al-Hayat television that he would not go ahead with preparations for the vote until the fighting stopped and Morsi rescinded his decrees. The country’s new attorney general, a Morsi appointee, hit back, ordering an investigation of Ahmed El-Zind, chairman of the judges’ union that is spearheading the call for a boycott. Wednesday’s clashes began when thousands of Morsi’s Islamist supporters descended on an area near the presidential palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in. The Islamists, members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace’s main gate and tore down their tents. The protesters scattered into side streets, where they chanted anti-Morsi slogans as the Islamists shouted, “The people demand the implementation of God’s law!” After a brief lull, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived and began throwing firebombs at the president’s backers, who responded with rocks. The clashes continued well after nightfall and spread from the immediate vicinity of the palace to residential streets nearby. The deployment of hundreds of riot police did not stop the fighting. The police later fired tear gas to disperse Morsi’s opponents. Volunteers ferried the wounded on motorcycles to waiting ambulances, which rushed them to hospitals. “I voted for Morsi to get rid of Hosni Mubarak. I now regret it,” Nadia el-Shafie yelled at Brotherhood supporters on a side street. “God is greater than you! Don’t think this power or authority will add anything to you. God made this revolution, not you!” the tearful woman said as she was led away from the crowd of Islamists. “May God protect Egypt and its president,” read a banner hoisted atop a truck brought by the Islamists, as a man using a loudspeaker recited verses from the Quran. “We came to support the president. We feel there is a legitimacy that someone is trying to rob,” said Rabi Mohammed, a Brotherhood supporter. “People are rejecting democratic principles using thuggery.” The Islamists portrayed their attack on opposition protesters as defense of the revolution. The clashes, said top Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian, pitted “those who are protecting the legitimacy and the revolution against the counterrevolution and coup plotters.” Vice President Mahmoud Mekki called for a dialogue with the opposition to reach a consensus on disputed articles of the constitution, which he put at 15 out of a total of 234. The referendum must go ahead, he said, adding that he was acting in a personal capacity, not on behalf of Morsi. Speaking to reporters, ElBaradei said there would be no dialogue unless Morsi rescinded his decrees and shelved the draft constitution. Asked to comment on Mekki’s offer, he said: “With all due respect, we don’t deal with personal initiatives. If there is a genuine desire for dialogue, the offer must come from President Morsi.” Morsi’s Nov. 22 decrees were followed last week by the constitutional panel pushing through the draft constitution without the participation of liberal and Christian members. Only four women, all Islamists, attended the session. If the referendum goes ahead as scheduled and the draft constitution is adopted, elections for parliament’s lawmaking lower chamber will be held in February. ____ AP reporters Maggie Michael and Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.
Source: Fox World News
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood accused of paying gangs to rape women
Egypt’s embattled Muslim Brotherhood regime is paying gangs of thugs to rape women and beat men who gather in Tahrir Square to protest the power grab of President Mohamed Morsi, say activists.
In a bitter replay of the Arab Spring protests that brought down President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago, protesters have flooded the Cairo square to denounce Morsi, who has stripped the judiciary of power and is rushing through an Islamist constitution. And while Mubarak is now in prison for using violence to quell protests targeting him, Morsi’s regime is now accused of doing the same.
“This is still happening now,” Magda Adly, director of the Nadeem Center for Human Rights, told The Times of London. “I believe thugs are being paid money to do this … the Muslim Brotherhood have the same political approaches as Mubarak.”
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have gathered in the square to protest the new constitution and to call for Morsi’s ouster. Morsi briefly fled the Itihadiya presidential palace in Cairo Wednesday, after the complex was surrounded by tens of thousands of protesters chanting slogans reminiscent of those used during the revolution that ousted Mubarak. The protesters scrawled anti-Morsi graffiti and waved giant banners carrying images of revolutionaries killed in earlier protests.
A protester the newspaper identified as Yasmine said she was attacked while videotaping demonstrations. She said about 50 men surrounded her and began tearing off her clothes, grabbing her breasts and sexually assaulting her. She said she suffered internal injuries and was unable to walk for a week.
The Daily Mail reported that most attacks take place at night when men form a human chain around women, then move in for the assault. Two men told the paper they were paid to attack women.
“We’re told to go out and sexually harass girls so they leave the demonstration,” one said.
The current crisis pits his Muslim Brotherhood and their ultraconservative Islamist allies against a coalition of youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public. It began on Nov. 22, when Morsi decreed himself and his party above the judiciary and escalated after the Muslim Brotherhood pushed through a draft constitution without the participation of liberals and Christians.
The constitution faces a Dec. 15 referendum, but opponents and the nation’s judges have signaled they won’t take part in what they consider a sham process.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click for more from The Times of London.
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Former Egyptian presidential candidates reportedly accused in ‘Zionist plot’
Former Egyptian presidential candidates Mohamed El-Baradei, Hamdein Sabahy and Amr Moussa reportedly were accused of a “Zionist plot” against the state Wednesday, amid massive protests against the country’s recently elected leader, Mohammed Morsi.
Egypt‘s public prosecutor filed a complaint against the three opposition figureheads for spying and plotting against the state, according to the Guardian. The complaint reportedly accuses the former presidential candidates of participating in a “Zionist plot” to overthrow Morsi.
Former Arab League head Moussa is also accused of secretly meeting with Tzipi Livni, Israel‘s former foreign minister, to plot fabricated “internal crises,” according to The Hindu.
El-Baradei, former chief of the IAEA, has been an outspoken critic of Morsi in the wake of his sweeping decrees. He said on his Twitter account that Morsi put to a referendum a constitution that “undermines basic freedoms and violates universal rights. The struggle continues.”
Leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood have been calling on the opposition to enter a dialogue with the Islamist leader. But the opposition contends that a dialogue is pointless unless the president first rescinds his decrees and shelves the draft charter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Egypt’s Morsi returns to palace after mass rally
An Egyptian official says the country’s president has returned to his Cairo palace, a day after he left it through a back gate as tens of thousands of angry protesters besieged the complex demanding he rescind decrees giving him sweeping powers. The official says President Mohammed Morsi was back at work at the Ithadiya palace on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media About 300 opposition supporters are camped out in front of the palace’s main gate. Morsi and his aides routinely use other gates. The president’s Nov. 22 decrees and the adoption by his allies of a controversial draft constitution have plunged Egypt into its worst political crisis since president Hosni Mubarak‘s overthrow nearly two years ago.
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Morsi reportedly returns to presidential palace after protests against his regime turn violent
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has reportedly returned to the presidential palace after a violent protest of over 100,000 people the night before had forced him to leave the building.
Reuters reports scores of anti-Morsi protesters remained camped outside one of the palace gates, a witness said. Traffic was flowing normally around the area that had been filled with several thousand demonstrators the night before.
Morsi left the palace Tuesday as violence erupted between police and at least 100,000 protesters gathered in Cairo.
In a brief outburst, police fired tear gas to stop protesters approaching the palace in the capital’s Heliopolis district. Morsi was in the palace conducting business as usual while the protesters gathered outside. But he left for home through a back door when the crowds “grew bigger,” according to a presidential official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The official said Morsi left on the advice of security officials at the palace and to head off “possible dangers” and to calm protesters. Morsi’s spokesman, however, said the president left the palace at the end of his work schedule through the door he routinely uses.
The violence erupted when protesters pushed aside a barricade topped with barbed wire several hundred yards from the palace walls. Police fired tear gas, and then retreated. With that barricade removed, protesters moved closer to the palace’s walls, with police apparently choosing not to try and push the crowds back.
Soon afterwards, police abandoned the rest of the barricades, allowing the crowds to surge ahead to the walls of the palace complex. But there were no attempts to storm the palace, guarded inside by the army’s Republican Guard.
The brief outburst of violence left 18 people injured, none seriously, according to the official MENA news agency.
Protesters gathered as tensions grew over Morsi’s seizure of nearly unrestricted powers and a draft constitution hurriedly adopted by his allies.
Crowds around the capital and in the coastal city of Alexandria were still swelling several hours after nightfall. The large turnout signaled sustained momentum for the opposition, which brought out at least 200,000 protesters to Cairo’s Tahrir Square a week ago and a comparable number on Friday. They are demanding the Morsi rescind decrees that placed him above judicial oversight.
Protesters also commandeered two police vans, climbing atop the armored vehicles to jubilantly wave Egypt‘s red, white and black flag and chant against Morsi. Nearly two hours into the demonstration, protesters were mingling freely with the black-clad riot police, with many waving the flag and chanting against Morsi.
There were as many as 100,000 protesters in the immediate vicinity of the palace and the wide thoroughfare that runs by it. Thousands more filled side streets leading off the area.
Many in the crowd were chanting “erhal, erhal,” Arabic for “leave, leave” and “the people want to topple the regime” — two well-known chants from the 2010-2011 Arab Spring revolts that toppled Mubarak and other Middle Eastern and North African rulers.
In Alexandria, some 10,000 opponents of Morsi gathered in the center of the country’s second largest metropolis. They chanted slogans against the leader and his Islamic fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The protests were dubbed “The Last Warning” by organizers amid rising anger over the draft charter and decrees issued by Morsi giving himself sweeping powers that placed him above judicial oversight. Morsi called for a nationwide referendum on the draft constitution on Dec. 15.
It is Egypt‘s worst political crisis since the ouster nearly two years ago of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak. The country has been divided into two camps: Morsi and the Brotherhood, as well as ultraconservative Salafi Islamists, versus youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public.
Tens of thousands also gathered in Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square, miles away from the palace, to join several hundred who have been camping out there for nearly two weeks. There were other large protests around the city separate from the one outside the palace.
Smaller protests by Morsi opponents were staged in the southern city of Assiut, an Islamists stronghold, and the industrial city of Mahallah north of Cairo as well as Suez.
“Freedom or we die,” chanted a crowd of several hundred outside a mosque in the Abbasiyah district. “Mohammed Morsi illegitimate! Brotherhood! Illegitimate!” they also yelled.
“This is the last warning before we lay siege to the presidential palace,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a 21-year-old student from the city of Suez on the Red Sea. “We want the presidential decrees cancelled.”
Several hundred protesters also gathered outside Morsi’s residence in an upscale suburb.
“Down with the sons of dogs. We are the power and we are the people,” they chanted.
Morsi, who narrowly won the presidency in a June election, appeared to be in no mood for compromise.
A statement by his office said he met Tuesday with his deputy, prime minister and several top Cabinet members to discuss preparations for the referendum. The statement suggested business as usual at the palace, despite the mass rally outside its doors.
The Islamists responded to the mass opposition protests last week by sending hundreds of thousands of supporters into Cairo’s twin city of Giza on Saturday and across much of the country. Thousands also besieged Egypt‘s highest court, the Supreme Constitutional Court.
The court had been widely expected Sunday to declare the constitutional assembly that passed the draft charter on Friday illegitimate and to disband parliament’s upper house, the Shura Council. Instead, the judges went on strike after they found their building under siege by protesters.
The opposition has yet to say whether it intends to focus its energy on rallying support for a boycott of the Dec. 15 vote or defeating the draft with a “no” vote.
“We haven’t made any decisions yet, but I’m leaning against a boycott and toward voting `no,”‘ said Hossam al-Hamalawy of the Socialist Revolutionaries, a key group behind last year’s uprising. “We want a (new) constituent assembly that represents the people and we keep up the pressure on Morsi.”
The judges’ strikes were part of a planned campaign of civil disobedience that could spread to other industries.
On Tuesday, at least eight influential dailies, a mix of opposition party mouthpieces and independent publications, suspended publication for a day to protest against what many journalists see as the restrictions on freedom of expression in the draft constitution.
The country’s privately owned TV networks planned their own protest Wednesday, when they will blacken their screens all day.
Morsi’s Nov. 22 decrees placed him above oversight of any kind, including the courts. The constitutional panel then rushed through a draft constitution without the participation of representatives of liberals and Christians. Only four women, all Islamists, attended the marathon, all-night session.
The charter has been criticized for not protecting the rights of women and minority groups, and many journalists see it as restricting freedom of expression. Critics also say it empowers Islamic religious clerics by giving them a say over legislation, while some articles were seen as tailored to get rid of Islamists’ enemies.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Germany close to ban on far-right party
German security officials are moving toward a new attempt to ban the country’s only significant far-right party, after meticulously collecting new evidence in an effort to avoid the debacle when they tried to ban it in 2003. The interior ministers of Germany‘s 16 states are expected to recommend Wednesday evening pursuing a new ban of the National Democratic Party on allegations it promotes a racist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic agenda in violation of the country’s constitution. In 2003 the country’s Federal Constitutional Court rejected the attempt after it turned out paid government informants within the party were partially responsible for the evidence being used. This time officials say almost all of the information is public record, like details from the NPD‘s own literature, Internet postings, and documented criminal activities.
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