Egyptian Opposition Against State of Emergency, Curfew
The Egyptian opposition gathered in the National Salute Front (NSF) has criticized Mohamed Morsi’s decisions late on Sunday to impose a state of emergency, curfew in the cities of Ismailiya, Suez and Port Said.
In response to President Morsi’s call for dialogue, the NSF has laid down a set of conditions including the establishment of a national salute government and the amendment of the recently-adopted Constitution.
The Egyptian president called for a dialogue with opposition in an effort to ease the tensions during the weekend which left at least 33 people dead.
In a television address, he vowed that he will not hesitate to take even more action to stem violence across the country.
A court sentence on Saturday convicting to death 21 defendants involved in a deadly soccer riot in February sparked violence in the Suez Canal provinces which was the worst soccer violence in Egypt’s history leaving 74 people dead.
Mohamed Al-Baradei who was speaking on behalf of the National Salute Front has accused President Mursi of “caring little about what’s going on the ground”, urging him to fulfill his responsibilities concerning the deadly events.
Eymen Nour, leader of the party Ghad Athawra, has for his part welcomed Morsi’s call for dialogue, saying that efforts are being deployed to bring the opposition and the ruling party to the negotiation table.
Six people were injured following clashes opposing police forces and hundreds of demonstrators who took to the streets of Ismailiya in protest against the President’s decision to impose a state of emergency.
The situation is still very tense in cities concerned by the restrictions.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
Category: Africa
