Faced with the third day of bloody demonstrations in Cairo, Morsi said a decree granting himself near absolute power was only ‘temporary.’
BY BILL HUTCHINSON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Egypt was a divided country in turmoil Sunday as protesters clashed with President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood over a decree giving the Islamist head of state “unprecedented” powers.
Faced with the third day of bloody demonstrations in Cairo, Morsi said a decree granting himself near absolute power was only “temporary.”
“This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for the corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period,” Morsi’s office said in a statement.
A 15-year-old boy was killed and at least 40 people were wounded Sunday when anti-Morsi protesters tried to storm a Muslim Brotherhood office in the Nile Delta city of Damanhur, security officials said.
Morsi’s problems at home boiled over just days after he successfully helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.