Egyptian President assumes sweeping powers, dubbed new pharaoh

Egyptian President assumes sweeping powers, dubbed new pharaoh

Agencies : Cairo, Fri Nov 23 2012, 16:11 hrs

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has assumed sweeping powers, drawing flak that he is acting like a "new pharaoh" and is endangering the gains of the popular uprising which ousted Hosni Mubarak's dictatorial regime.

Mursi made the constitutional declaration yesterday that granted him far-reaching powers and also ordered retrials of officials involved in the killing of protesters during the 2011 mass uprising against the Mubarak regime.

The decision came a day after the President was praised by world leaders for brokering a truce between Hamas and Israel.

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