Egypt delays voting on constitution as protests rage

• The draft constitution that is now at the center of worsening political turmoil would empower Islamists to carry out the most widespread and strictest implementation of Islamic law that modern Egypt has seen

CAIRO — Egypt postponed early voting on a contentious draft constitution, and aides to President Mohammed Morsi floated the possibility of canceling the whole referendum in the first signs Friday that the Islamic leader is finally yielding to days of protests and deadly street clashes.

Thousands of opponents to President Mohammed Morsi marched to the presidential palace after Friday midday prayers while his supporters gathered outside a major mosque and demanded the strengthening of Islamic law.

The protesters are demanding that Morsi rescind decrees giving himself near-absolute power and withdraw a disputed draft constitution that they say will rob religious minorities and women of their freedoms.

Thousands of Islamists held funeral prayers Friday at Al-Azhar Mosque for two Morsi supporters killed in clashes this week with Morsi opponents. Speakers to the crowd portrayed the opposition as tools of the regime of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak — or as decadent and un-Islamic.

"Egypt is Islamic, it will not be secular, it will not be liberal," the crowd chanted in a funeral procession filling streets around the mosque. Thousands chanted, "With blood and soul, we redeem Islam," pumping their fists in the air.

The announcement by the election committee head Ismail Hamdi to delay early voting on the charter came as a surprise, and it was difficult to predict whether it will lead to a breakthrough in the political crisis.

The president's aides said the move would ease some pressure and would provide room for negotiations with the opposition.

But Morsi's opponents have rejected talks, saying he must first cancel the referendum and meet other demands. Late Friday, an opposition umbrella group called for an open-ended sit-in in front of the presidential palace.

Legal Affairs Minister Mohammed Mahsoub said the administration was weighing several proposals — including calling off the referendum and returning it to the constituent assembly for changes. Another possibility was disbanding the constituent assembly and forming a new one, either by direct vote or an agreement among the political forces.

"We have a big chance tomorrow," Mahsoub told the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network, referring to what he said was a meeting between Morsi and political forces. "There are no deadlines or referendums outside the country. Tomorrow or day after, we might reach a good agreement."

"The people are angry because they feel their rights have been raped," Mohamed ElBaradei said on the ONTV network. "If he takes these decisions, he will be opening the door for dialogue. I hope he is listening."

ElBaradei leads the newly formed National Salvation Front, a group of liberals and youths who opposed Morsi's decrees and led the protests in Cairo.

"We reject the fake dialogue which Morsi has called for. No talks after bloodshed and before holding those responsible accountable," the front said in a statement.

Some protesters expressed optimism after they heard that the early voting for Egyptians abroad, which was due to begin Saturday, had been put off until Dec. 5.

"This looks like the beginning of a retraction," said Dr. Mohsen Ibrahim, a 56-year-old demonstrator. "This means Morsi may postpone the referendum. It looks like the pressure is working out."

But he warned that "if Morsi doesn't see the numbers of people protesting, then he will be repeating the same mistake of Mubarak."

Six people were killed and more than 700 people injured in dueling demonstrations this week. Morsi responded to the violence late Thursday with a fiery speech denouncing his opponents.

Speaking in a nationally televised address, Morsi accused some in the opposition of serving remnants of Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship and vowed he would never tolerate anyone working for the overthrow of his "legitimate" government. Morsi was elected in June.

Morsi invited the opposition to a "comprehensive and productive" dialogue starting Saturday at his presidential palace, but gave no sign that he might offer any concessions demanded by his opponents. He said a nationwide referendum on the new constitution will go forward Dec. 15.

The constitution, drafted by Islamists, enshrines Islamic law as the basis for legislation as it did under Murbarak. But Morsi opponents fear he will allow much more emphases on enforcing Islamic law than Mubarak.

Morsi's opponents replied they would not talk with Morsi until he cancels his decrees, which gave him new powers including that his edicts are exempt from judicial review.

"He proved that he is not a president for all Egyptians, but merely the representative of the Muslim Brotherhood in the presidency," said opposition spokesman Hussein Abdel-Ghani said on state television.

The opposition has formed a group to represent their varies interests called the National Salvation Front and named former U.N. diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei as its leader. Speaking on the new group's behalf, ElBaradei responded to Morsi's speech in his own televised remarks, saying that Morsi's government showed reluctance in acting to stop bloodshed outside the palace.

He said this failure has eroded the government's legitimacy and made it difficult for his opposition front to negotiate with the president. ElBaradei said Morsi has not responded to the opposition group's attempts to "rescue the country" and that the president had "closed the door for dialogue" by "ignoring the demands of the people."

Demonstrators crowded the center of Tahrir Square late Friday, waving Egyptian flags to the beat of their national anthem, and others marched to the palace from several different directions.

"We want Morsi out," said Dina Fathy from Sheikh Zayed.

Fathy said that initially she was mainly against the constitution, but now she says she is demonstrating to stop the Muslim Brotherhood from seizing more powers.

"We don't want a dictatorship to take over this country," she added.

"I'm against the decision of president Morsi, his constitutional decree, because it gives him power over the law and we think that the law should be independent," said Ayman Hassan, a former English teacher and journalist from Aswan who lives in Cairo. "I'm also against the referendum next week."

Fireworks lit the dark night sky hanging over Tahrir Square, illuminated otherwise by orange street lights. Vendors sold food – grilled corn, baked bread, and nuts – and some hawked flags and red necklace ribbons attached to small white signs that read: "No to the constitution."

Men and women -- some veiled, some not -- protested in the square. Some brought their children and carried babies on their shoulders through the crowds.

Nihal Said, interrupted briefly by booming fireworks, said she believes the country will be worse than it was under Mubarak "if it stays in the Muslim Brotherhood's hands," and has not yet decided is she will boycott the upcoming referendum or simply vote "No.'"

At the Al-Azhar Mosque, one cleric speaking to the crowd denounced anti-Morsi protesters as "traitors." Another declared that they will not allow Egypt to become "a den of hash smokers."

"We march on this path in sacrifice for the nation and our martyrs," a leading Brotherhood figure, Mohammed el-Beltagi, told the crowd. "We will keep going even if we all become martyrs. We will avenge them or die like them.

Contributing: Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY; Associated Press