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Ahead of Protests, Egypt’s President Gives Army Powers of Police Before Protests, Morsi Takes Critics Head On
(about 5 hours later)
CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt gave the army police powers to make arrests on Thursday, an official from his party said, while tanks and soldiers beefed up security near government buildings and the strategic Suez Canal in anticipation of mass protests planned for this weekend that many fear will unleash a new wave of unrest. CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt moved aggressively on Thursday to preserve order and confront his opponents, deploying the army near government ministries and the Suez Canal, starting legal proceedings against several judges and purging critics from a state-appointed body that helps regulate the airwaves.
The competing calls for protests this weekend reflect the deep and bitter divide over how Egypt has been run since the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. While many had hoped that Mr. Morsi would move to defuse calls for mass protests against him this weekend, he instead wielded the power of the state to try to project power. His message to those challenging his authority was to either work through the political structures that have emerged since the country’s revolution in 2011, or have no say in how the state is run.
On one side are Mr. Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamist allies who say their victories in the post-revolutionary elections legitimize their standing and express the popular will. Challenging them is a disparate opposition that accuses Mr. Morsi and his allies of excluding non-Islamist voices from the post-revolutionary transition and failing to alleviate the country’s growing economic distress. “One year is enough!” Mr. Morsi said repeatedly in a televised speech on Wednesday night, threating to purge holdovers from the clique of former President Hosni Mubarak. He also offered no concessions to those calling for his ouster, dismissing them as antidemocratic.
Opposition protests and counterprotests are scheduled to kick off Friday and continue through Sunday, the anniversary of Mr. Morsi’s inauguration. Opposition activists have vowed to remain in the streets until Mr. Morsi stands down. “This is the message he is sending, a threat pretty much that his tolerance and patience for so-called subversive acts and extra-constitutional activities will no longer stand,” said Yasser el-Shimy, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. “If you would rather work outside the system, we are going to come after you.”
Reflecting fears that the protests could turn violent, the army has been deploying tanks and soldiers near government ministries, the central bank and at the entrances to some Cairo neighborhoods. It has also enhanced security in cities along the Suez Canal. Mr. Morsi’s decision to shrug off the opposition and forge ahead comes at a time when bitter polarization over the direction of the country threatens to unleash a new wave of unrest.
New weapons have been distributed to police officers, and police stations have transferred detainees held on site to central prisons, security officials said. A broad, if loosely organized, cast of opposition groups is organizing mass protests calling for Mr. Morsi’s ouster starting on Friday and continuing through Sunday, the anniversary of Mr. Morsi’s inauguration. Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters are planning counterprotests, and many fear the eruption of clashes between the two camps.
The American Embassy here in Cairo has repeatedly warned its citizens of the potential for violence between protesters and will remain closed on Sunday, normally the first day of the Egyptian workweek. Three people have been killed and more than 400 wounded in violence between pro- and anti-Morsi groups in the last two days alone.
Mr. Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party also took steps on Thursday to enhance security. In his speech, Mr. Morsi went after several individuals he said had broken laws and undermined the state. Action against some of them came swiftly, with government figures appointed by Mr. Morsi taking action against them within 24 hours. On Thursday, an accountability body inside the justice ministry opened corruption investigations against a number of judges Mr. Morsi had accused of participating in rigging elections. Gehad El-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that propelled Mr. Morsi to power, said in an online commentary that 32 judges were under investigation.
A party official, Gehad El-Haddad, said in a post on Twitter on Thursday that Mr. Morsi had given the police and the army “judicial arrest powers to secure major government buildings” and to ensure law and order. The prosecutor on Thursday also slapped a travel ban on Mohammed Amin, the owner of a satellite TV channel that has often been critical of Mr. Morsi since the president accused him of tax evasion. The prosecutor said Mr. Amin was under investigation for owing more than $60 million in taxes.
He also said that the party and the Muslim Brotherhood that founded it had hired private security companies to protect their headquarters. “He’s a tax evader — let him pay,” Mr. Morsi said. “He unleashes his channel against us.”
Protesters have ransacked offices belonging to the two groups during past protests and sometimes engaged in bloody clashes with Brotherhood members. Egypt’s minister of investment on Thursday also purged representatives of three private satellites stations — including Mr. Amin’s — from the board of the Free Media Zone, a state-run body that helps regulate the airwaves.
Egypt’s interior minister said in a recent TV interview that the police did not have the manpower to protect the offices of all of Egypt’s political parties, but that they would intervene if violence occurred. Mr. Haddad said in another post on Twitter that the Brotherhood would use its “right of self-defense” if the police failed to protect its offices. Mr. Morsi had accused another station owner, Ahmed Bahgat, of owing more than $400,000 to an Egyptian bank.
In a two-and-a-half-hour address Wednesday, Mr. Morsi offered no major concessions to defuse a campaign by opposition activists to push for his ouster while raising the specter of new political violence. Mr. Haddad said that Thursday’s moves showed that Mr. Morsi was committed to more forcefully pursing his agenda.
“The political polarization and infighting have reached a point that endangers our nascent democracy, and it threatens the whole country with a state of paralysis and chaos,” Mr. Morsi said. “What happened today is no more than a fraction of what has been requested from the president since the day of his appointment,” Mr. Haddad said. “These are the basic demands of the revolution, to cleanse the old regime elements from their strongholds in the state.”
Mr. Morsi offered only scant concessions in his speech on Wednesday to those seeking his removal. He renewed his invitation to opposition figures to participate in amending the country’s new Constitution and announced the formation of a body to discuss national reconciliation. Mr. Haddad also said the president had offered no concession to those calling for his ouster because they were working outside of the political process, and they most likely would have ignored anything Mr. Morsi offered.
But the speech failed to blunt the opposition’s charge. He said he expected Mr. Morsi to work more closely with groups that have proven their popularity at the polls, like the ultraconservative Noor party.
“Dr. Morsi’s speech has only increased our insistence on calling for an early presidential elections in order to achieve the revolution’s goals, the foremost of which is social justice,” Mohamed ElBaradei, a leader in the opposition’s National Salvation Front said at a news conference on Thursday. “Most of the Islamist camp thinks the president has been too lenient with the opposition and has failed to deliver on his political promises,” Mr. Haddad said. “And I think he is picking up the pace.”
Planning for the competing protests this weekend continued on Thursday, with the opposition saying its plans had not changed.
“Dr. Morsi’s speech has only increased our insistence on calling for an early presidential elections in order to achieve the revolution’s goals, the foremost of which is social justice,” Mohamed ElBaradei, a leader in the opposition’s National Salvation Front, said Thursday at a news conference.
Reflecting fears that the protests could turn violent, the Egyptian Army has been deploying tanks and soldiers near government ministries, at the central bank and at the entrances to some Cairo neighborhoods. It has also enhanced security in cities along the Suez Canal.
Security officials said that weapons had been distributed to the police, and that those being held at local police stations had been transferred to central prisons, apparently to make room for those detained in any unrest.
The American Embassy in Cairo has repeatedly warned American citizens of the potential for violence and will be closed on Sunday, normally the first day of the Egyptian workweek.
Mr. Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Muslim Brotherhood that founded it took steps to ensure their own security.
The party has recently reinforced his Cairo headquarters with thick metal doors, and Mr. Haddad, the Brotherhood spokesman, said the group had hired private security guards to protect its offices.
Protesters have ransacked the group’s offices in the past and sometimes engaged in clashes with Brotherhood members. Egypt’s Interior Minister said recently that the police did not have the manpower to protect the offices of all political parties.

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.