Egypt's opposition to shun Morsi talks http://aje.me/QOMb5c
Egypt's military 'will not allow violence'
Egypt's military 'will not allow violence' | |||
Army urges all political forces to solve differences through dialogue to prevent "dark tunnel with disastrous results".
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2012 12:44
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"The path of dialogue is the best and only way to reach agreement and achieve the interests of the nation and its citizens," said the military in a statement released on Saturday. "The opposite of that will take us into a dark tunnel with disastrous results," the statement added.
It also came after the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported that Morsi would soon authorise the armed forces to help police keep order. The capital Cairo and other cities have been rocked by violent protests since November 22, when Morsi issued a decree awarding himself sweeping powers that put him above the law. Violent protests and clashes between supporters of Morsi and his opponents have left half a dozen civilians killed and several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood in flames since the crisis began last month. Morsi has called for a national dialogue but the country's main opposition leaders have vowed boycott, urging the president to first cancel a December 15 referendum on a controversial draft constitution and rescind decrees granting him immunity from any oversight. 'Arm-twisting' The National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition, said it would not join Saturday's national dialogue. The Front's co-ordinator, Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate, dismissed the offer as "arm-twisting and imposition of a fait accompli". Morsi could be joined by some senior judiciary figures and politicians such as Ayman Nour, one of the candidates in ousted President Hosni Mubarak's only multi-candidate presidential race, in 2005, in which he was defeated. Mahmoud Mekki, Egypt's vice president, issued a statement saying the president was prepared to postpone the referendum if that could be done without legal challenge. But the concession fails to meet the full demands of the opposition, who also want Morsi to discard the decree awarding himself extra powers. ElBaradei said that if Morsi were to scrap the decree with which he awarded himself wide powers and postpone the referendum "he will unite the national forces". The state news agency reported that the election committee had postponed the start of voting for Egyptians abroad until Wednesday, instead of Saturday as planned. It did not say whether this would affect the timing of voting within Egypt. Ahmed Said, leader of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told the Reuters news agency that delaying expatriate voting was intended to seem like a concession but would not change the opposition's stance. | |||
EI's Rami Almeghari, carrying his wife's latest medical tests for her doctors in Cairo, sent back at Rafah crossing http://bit.ly/TOP4QW
Egypt’s ‘National Salvation Front’ gave “the silent majority an alternative to rally around,” says Hala Elkholy http://goo.gl/eulIf