Please is this man not worse than Mubarak? Is this democracy? Now they will go all the way to create a new constitution without any opposition.


CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi triggered controversy on Thursday by issuing a decree likely to lead to retrials of Hosni Mubarak and his aides but which was compared to the ousted leader's autocratic ways.

As well as ordering retrials for Mubarak-era officials responsible for violence during the uprising against his rule, the decree shielded from legal challenge an Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution.

It gave the same protection to the upper house of parliament, dominated by Islamists allied to Mursi, and assigned the president new powers that allowed him to sack the Mubarak-era prosecutor general and appoint a new one.

It stated that all decisions taken by Mursi until the election of a new parliament were exempt from legal challenge.

Presented as a move to "protect the revolution," the decree won immediate praise from Mursi's allies but stoked fears among secular-minded Egyptians that the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies aim to dominate the new Egypt. It seemed likely to deepen the divisions that have plagued the post-Mubarak era.

"These decisions will feed discord in Egyptian politics and will be far from creating a favorable climate for restoration of economic growth," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

Leading liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, writing on his Twitter account, said Mursi had "usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh."

But Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for the Brotherhood, described the move as "revolutionary and popular.". http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/mursi-draws-fire-egypt-decree-011450422.html?.b=index&.ts=1353663776&.intl=us&.lang=en.