Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has issued constitutional amendments, granting himself far-reaching powers. Source: AP
EGYPT'S Islamist President Mohamed Morsi assumed sweeping powers yesterday, drawing criticism he was seeking to be a "new pharoah" and raising questions about the gains of last year's uprising to oust Hosni Mubarak.
The move is a blow to the pro-democracy movement that toppled the long-time president, himself derided by many as a pharoah, and raises concerns that Islamists will be further ensconced in power.
"The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by presidential spokesman Yasser Ali.
"The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal."
Nobel laureate and former UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at the declaration, which would effectively put the president above judicial oversight.
President Mursi has ordered the
retrial of officers accused of attacking protesters under Hosni Mubarak
Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi has
issued a declaration banning challenges to his decrees, laws and decisions.
The declaration also says no court can dissolve the constituent assembly,
which is drawing up a new constitution.
President Mursi also sacked the chief prosecutor and ordered the retrial of
people accused of attacking protesters when ex-President Mubarak held office.
Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei accused Mr Mursi of acting like
a "new pharaoh".
The president may feel he has gained power through his role as international
mediator in the Gaza conflict, but his latest announcement is likely to cause
new struggles inside Egypt, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
The constitution-drafting assembly faces fatal threats
The withdrawal of a third of the members from the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly throws the future of the constitution-writing body into question
Gamal Essam El-Din , Monday 19 Nov 2012
Months-old internal divisions and ideological disagreements among the 100-member Constituent Assembly – the body tasked with writing Egypt’s new constitution – have reached a crescendo on Sunday as more than 30 non-Islamist members have decided to withdraw from the Assembly’s ranks, accusing representatives of Islamist forces of doing their best to draft a constitution aimed at turning Egypt into a radical Islamist state.
Egypt Salafists ordered off Coptic church land: report
An Egyptian Christian Copt touches the image of Jesus Christ during Sunday mass in Cairo, in September 2012.
Egypt's prosecutor general ruled on Thursday that the Christian Coptic church is the rightful owner of a disputed plot of land that Muslim extremists had occupied, a judicial source said.
AFP - Egypt's prosecutor general ruled on Thursday that the Christian Coptic church is the rightful owner of a disputed plot of land that Muslim extremists had occupied, a judicial source said.
Prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud also ordered that legal measures be taken to stop the radical Salafists from building a mosque on the land located north of Cairo.
Pope Tawadros II, Egypt's New Coptic Leader, Opposes Religious Constitution
By SARAH EL DEEB
CAIRO -- Egypt's new Coptic pope said Monday the constitution now being drafted will not be acceptable if it is overtly religious, a sign he would campaign with his Christian minority and secular groups against increasing Islam's role in the new charter.
In an interview aired Monday, a day after he was selected patriarch of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II said the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last year has opened the way for a larger Coptic public role.
He said as pope, he will encourage the Christian community to participate more in political and public life, as well as elections. He charged that the country's Christian minority has been "intentionally" marginalized for years.
CAIRO — A blindfolded 6-year-old reached into a glass bowl on Sunday to pick the first new Coptic pope in more than 40 years, a patriarch who promises a new era of integration for Egypt’s Christian minority as it grapples with a wave of sectarian violence, new Islamist domination of politics, and internal pressures for reform.
WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) — A board member of Coptic Solidarity is dismissing President Barack Obama's statement of support for Egypt's minority Christians as just "empty words."
At Monday's presidential debate, Obama said his administration has put "significant pressure" on Egypt's newly elected Islamic government to "take responsibility for protecting religious minorities."
But Coptic Solidarity's Halim Meawad (MEE'-wahd) says the Obama administration actually appears to be drawing closer to an Egyptian government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and more radical Islamists.
Egyptian protesters chant slogans outside the State Council, background, following the High Administrative Court's session in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Tuesday asked the country's highest tribunal to rule on whether to disband the body tasked with writing a new constitution. The delay in a ruling is a possible blow to liberals, since it could give Islamists time to finish drafting the contested document.