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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Morsi Holds Firm In Speech As Tension Grows In Egypt

Matt Pressberg |
December 6, 2012 | 8:54 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

Mohammed Morsi failed to defuse the angry crowd in a speech Thursday night. (DonkeyHotey/Flickr)
Mohammed Morsi failed to defuse the angry crowd in a speech Thursday night. (DonkeyHotey/Flickr)
In a nationally televised speech late Thursday, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi reiterated his plans to go ahead with a Dec. 15 referendum on a disputed constitution, doing nothing to defuse an increasingly volatile political situation in Egypt.

The current round of political protests began when Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party, issued a decree last month granting him expansive, nearly unfettered executive power. This was followed by last week's approval of an Islamist-backed constitution, opposed by Egypt's minority groups, according to the New York Times.

The popular backlash came to a head Wednesday night, as at least seven were killed and 770 injured in violent clashes outside of the presidential palace, according to Al-Jazeera

ALSO SEE: Egyptian Tanks Deploy From Morsi Palace

In his speech, Morsi blamed the violence on "infiltrators" and said he was open to a Saturday meeting with political, legal and youth leaders, but offered little in the way of policy concessions on the main issues the crowds were protesting. Opposition figures reiterated their willingness to meet only after the president rescinded his November 22 decree. Morsi also defended his power grab as a move to protect the country, according to the Associated Press.

"During his speech, Morsi repeated earlier assertions that a conspiracy against the state was behind his move to assume near unrestricted powers, but he did not reveal any details of the plot.

'It is my duty ... to protect institutions of the nation,' he said. 'I will always fulfill this role, no matter how much pressure or what the situation.'

Opposition protesters jeered and raised their shoes in contempt."

After the speech, a crowd attacked the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Al-Jazeera.

"'Two hundred thugs went to the headquarters. Security tried to prevent them, but some got through the back door, ransacked it and set it on fire,' Brotherhood spokesman Mahmud Ghozlan said."

As the Associated Press reports, President Obama phoned Morsi Thursday, voicing "deep concern" about the harm done to protesters. Morsi had previously been in the good graces of Obama after helping to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, but his power grab and defiance in the face of building protests have drained much of the goodwill out of that relationship.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of Egypt here.

Reach Executive Producer Matt Pressberg here.



 

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