Egypt Opposition to Rally on Friday
Egyptian activists were to rally Friday after a Islamist-dominated panel rushed through a draft constitution, escalating the political stand-off between President Mohammed Morsi and his opposition.
A spokesman for former Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the opposition leader would later Friday head a march to Tahrir Square, where activists are staging a sit-in protest against a decree by Morsi granting himself broad powers that shield his decisions from judicial review.
Other protest groups are planning their own marches Friday ahead of a mass opposition rally called on Saturday to rival an Islamist protest in support of Morsi.
A coalition of leading dissident leaders have warned Morsi that a strike by judges could be followed by wide-scale civil disobedience and further protest rallies.
Tens of thousands of people on Tuesday packed Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of a democratic uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, to demonstrate against Morsi's decree.
Dozens have remained in the square since, camping out in tents and vowing to remain until the president rescinds the order.
The Islamist president's new powers are set to expire once the draft constitution is ratified in a referendum, possibly in two weeks.
The panel that approved the draft charter early on Friday had been boycotted by liberals and Christians who objected to some clauses and the rushed manner in which the constitution was prepared.
Source: Agence France Presse
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