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20 April 2024

Crisis over Mursi's sweeping new powers near end

General view of tents in Tahrir square as protesters and activists continue with their sit-in, in Cairo. More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news Mursi had issued a decree temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review. (REUTERS)

Published
By AP

Egypt's justice minister says a resolution is imminent to the political crisis stemming from the president's move to give himself sweeping new powers.

Ahmed Mekki spoke to reporters Monday, hours before President Mohammed Mursi was due to meet members of the Supreme Judiciary Council to discuss the package of decrees announced Thursday. Mursi's move put him above any kind of oversight, including that of the courts. The judiciary council is in charge of the courts.

Mekki has been mediating between the judiciary and the presidency to defuse the crisis, although he did not say on what he based his prediction for its imminent resolution.

The opposition denounced the decrees as dictatorial, and vowed to press on with street protests until Morsi rescinds them.