Tens of thousands of opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rallied across the country and burned offices of his Muslim Brotherhood to denounce a power grab they said makes him a “new pharaoh.”
Protesters returned to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, epicenter of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak year ago, and chanted, “Morsi is Mubarak.”
Morsi ignited outrage when he amended Egypt’s new constitution and made all his decisions immune from court order or judicial review.
The Islamist president also authorized himself to take any steps to counter “threats to the revolution.”
“There are weevils eating away at the nation of Egypt,” Morsi declared.
In Alexandria, protesters pelted Brotherhood backers with stones and firecrackers as they left Friday prayers.
State TV reported protesters burned Brotherhood offices in Ismailia and Port Said. In Cairo, security forces fired tear gas at thousands of protesters.
At least 26 political parties and movements agreed to stage a one-week sit-in, beginning last night, in Tahrir Square to demand Morsi abandon his decrees.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, denounced Morsi as “the new pharaoh.”
The Obama administration, meanwhile, expressed “concerns” over Morsi’s edict.