Egypt Islamists say want constitution referendum on time

A statement issued by Egypt's armed forces calling for dialogue and pledging to protect state institutions and the people does not signal a return to politics, a military source said on Saturday.                    

"It is obvious from the statement that the military is just explaining what happened, as at the end it thanked its forces for going out on the streets and protecting public institutions, and it does not indicate any future intervention in politics," the source, who is close to top officers, told Reuters.                        

A military council had run Egypt during an interim period after former military officer, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted last year. The armed forces have not intervened in the latest crisis.                        

For his part, a senior Muslim Brotherhood official said that a statement by Egypt's military calling for dialogue was a welcome step in helping to end a political crisis that did not take sides.                                     

Abdel Khaleq Al-Sherif, a senior official in the group that propelled President Mohamed Morsi into elected office, said the statement was "balanced", adding it was right for the military "not (to engage) in political manoeuvres".                                      

In this context, a coalition of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups called on Saturday for a referendum on a draft constitution to go ahead on time on Dec. 15, after liberals who complain that the document is biased demanded a delay in the vote.                                 

The main Islamist coalition "confirmed the need for measures to hold the referendum on time on Dec. 15 without any amendment or delay", a spokesman for the group told a news conference.                   

Among those who spoke at the news conference, aired live on television, was Khairat al-Shater, who had been the Brotherhood's candidate for president until he was disqualified, a move that thrusted Mohamed Morsi into his place and into office.                  

Earlier, Egypt's military urged all political forces to solve their differences in dialogue and declared that it would prevent violence, a military spokesman said.                       

"The armed forces affirm that dialogue is the best and only way to reach consensus...," the spokesman said in a statement read on state television.                 

"The opposite of that will bring us to a dark tunnel...which we will not allow."                            

This as, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi, facing street protests over his attempts to push through a new constitution, will soon authorize the armed forces to help police keep order, the state-run newspaper al-Ahram reported on Saturday.              

The daily said the cabinet had approved a legal measure under which the armed forces would help "maintain security and protect vital state institutions" and would be given powers of arrest, but did not say when it would be issued.                      

The opposition was still staging protests around Morsi's official palace, where clashes with his Islamist supporters killed seven people and wounded 350 earlier this week.                                     

Egypt's military was the power behind all previous presidents and an army council temporarily took over after a popular revolt toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.                   

However, Morsi pushed the generals aside in August, two months after he was elected and they have shown no appetite to intervene in the latest crisis in the most populous Arab nation.


REUTERS/LBCI