Removal of Egypt’s prosecutor-general provokes protest call

Opposition leaders in Egypt are calling for a "million man march" to protest against what they say is a coup by President Mohamed Morsi. 

Morsi on Thursday issued a declaration giving himself greater powers and effectively neutralising a judicial system that had emerged as a key opponent by declaring that the courts are barred from challenging his decisions.

Morsi framed his decisions as necessary to protect the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago and to cement the nation's transition to democratic rule.

The president's decree, which dismissed Egypt's prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud prompted opposition figure Mohamed El Baradei to accuse Morsi of usurping authority and becoming a "new pharaoh", while other opposition figures on Friday called for nationwide protests.

"This is a coup against legitimacy... We are calling on all Egyptians to protest in all of Egypt's squares on Friday," said Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers syndicate, in a joint news conference with leading dissidents Amr Moussa and El Baradei.

"The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by Yasser Ali, a presidential spokesman.

Protesters opposing and supporting Morsi took to the streets of Cairo soon after the decree was announced.

The new declaration means that the prosecutor general, who under the old law was appointed for life, was retroactively dismissed since he had been in the post for six years - but Morsi has changed the tenure to a four-year term.

Mahmoud was held responsible for the failure of prosecution of the people who were charged with the attempted murder of protesters who were behind the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. The decision is expected to be welcomed by those who believe that the prosecutor general was protecting some of the cronies of Mubarak.

Morsi had originally ordered Mahmoud to step down in an apparent bid to appease public anger over the acquittals of Mubarak-era officials accused of orchestrating violence against protesters last year.

But Mahmoud and a powerful judges' club said the move infringed on the judiciary's independence, as Egyptian law protects the judicial officials such as the prosecutor-general from be fired by the president.

To overcome the constraints on removing him, Morsi's decision asked Mahmoud to become ambassador to the Vatican. Mahmoud, however, refused to be re-appointed.

More than 800 people were killed during the revolution, and 11,000 wounded. Violence against protesters continued after Mubarak's ousting, with hundreds killed and thousands more arbitrarily detained.