Morsi flees palace amid protests

Egyptian riot police back against thousands of protesters gathered outside the Presidential palace in Cairo, angered over what they called dictatorial rule by President Muhammed Morsi. The President was forced to flee the palace via a side gate while the palace has now been cordoned off with a barbed wire. Last month, Morsi put in place a new law that would protect Presidential decrees from being overrun and that protected a council tasked to draft a new constitution from being dissolved. Morsi called for a referendum on the draft constitution on December 15 but opponents are saying he is rushing the matter. Egypt’s rocky political transition follows the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak from power in the last Egyptian revolution in 2011. Morsi, who was elected in free elections last June, took over from Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which was left in control over the country after Mubarak stepped down.


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