Photo Gallery Protesting Power in Cairo
Protesters crammed the streets of Cairo on Tuesday in a demonstration against recent decrees issued by President Mohammed Morsi that grant him near absolute powers. Tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered on Tuesday in Tahrir Square, the site of the vast protests which toppled Hosni Mubarak in spring, 2011.
Roughly 5,000 protesters demonstrated against the regime in the southern city of Assiut. In Mahalla, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cairo, rioters run away from tear gas canisters fired by police (above). Security Forces were trying to keep the peace between opponents and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which supports Morsi. The two groups had been pelting each other with stones and firebombs. According to the Associated Press, as many as 200 were injured.
Morsi issued his decree on Nov. 22, just one day after winning international praise for helping bring an end to eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to an end.
"It's like a wife whose husband was beating her and then she divorces him and becomes free," Laila Salah, a housewife at the Tahrir protest, told the AP. "If she remarries she'll never accept another day of abuse." Organizers have called for another mass rally on Friday.
An anti-Morsi protester throws a tear gas canister back at security forces during a Tuesday clash in central Cairo. The protests were sparked by a proclamation from Morsi last week that in effect neutralized the judiciary, the last branch of government Egypt's first freely elected president does not control. The protests were largely peaceful, but there were some clashes.
A protester throwing a rock at security forces. Many are worried that Morsi is giving himself near dictatorial powers.
Security forces arresting a demonstrator on Tuesday. Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei told SPIEGEL that he fears the outbreak of civil war should Morsi not back down.
Egyptian women, in particular, are concerned by Morsi's latest decree. The president is from the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood, whose members would like to see rights for women scaled back drastically.
On Tuesday in Tahrir Square, anti-Morsi protesters chanted slogans against the government and the Brotherhood. Among the chants, were "The people want to bring down the regime" and "erhal, erhal," Arabic for "leave, leave."
Egyptians hoped that the toppling of Mubarak would usher in a new era of democracy. Morsi's new powers have cast doubt on that progress. The president and his Brotherhood supporters say the country's judiciary branch was an obstacle to the "revolution's goals" of transitioning Egypt to a democracy. The courts, they argue, are still full of holdovers from Mubarak's regime.
Protesters have been flashing the V sign in Cairo. On Tuesday a 52-year-old protester died after inhaling tear gas in Cairo, the second death since Morsi's proclamations last week. "Calls for civil disobedience and strikes will be dealt with strictly by law and there is no retreat from the decree," Refa'a Al-Tahtawy, Morsi's chief of staff, told the Al-Hayat a private satellite channel.
