Egyptian President Muhamed Morsi reassures angry protesters. COURTESY WIKICOMMONS.
Compiled by Jessy Bains
Angry Egyptians are storming President Mohamed Morsi’s headquarters in Alexandria and gathering in Tahrir Square.
According to CNN, protesters are angry over an announcement by Morsi’s spokesman that the President issued an order preventing any court from overturning his decisions.
Morsi also ordered retrials and new investigations into the deaths of protesters during last year’s uprising against strongman Hosni Mubarak, the spokesman said.
Morsi is trying to reassure the angry mobs, who are chanting “Leave, leave,” while others shouted “the people want to topple the regime.”
“I have dedicated myself and my life for democracy and freedom,” Morsi told hundreds of supporters outside the presidential palace in Cairo.
“The steps I took are meant to achieve political and social stability,” said Morsi.
According to the New York Times, Morsi remains defiant.
“We are, God willing, moving forward, and no one stands in our way,” Reuters quoted Morsi as saying on Friday in a suburban mosque following Friday prayers.
“I fulfill my duties to please God and the nation and I take decisions after consulting with everyone,” he said. “Victory does not come without a clear plan and this is what I have.” According to Al Jazeera, police have started firing tear gas on the thousands of protestors gathered in Tahrir Square.
“It’s almost the same scenes that we saw during all those protests against President Mubarak, and yet, this is the elected president of Egypt. But the people here say he’s not behaving like an elected president of a country that still doesn’t have a constitution,” said Al Jazeera reporter James Bays.
Morsi’s decree has raised serious concerns from the United Nations.
“We are very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt,” Rupert Colville said at the UN in Geneva.
“We also fear this could lead to a very volatile situation over the next few days, starting today in fact.”