CAIRO – An Egyptian court Tuesday tossed out a government decree allowing the army to arrest civilians, a setback to military rulers preparing for this week's formal handover to Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first Islamist president. The Muslim Brotherhood and other opponents of military rule were furious when the army-backed interim government empowered soldiers to arrest civilians, effectively reinstating Hosni Mubarak's hated state of emergency, which lapsed on May 31. “The court has blocked the decision of the Justice Minister that gave military and military intelligence officers powers of arrest," said Cairo administrative court Judge Ali Fikry. But Brotherhood officials said they had struck some accords with the generals on the president's prerogatives, on an assembly that is supposed to write a long-delayed constitution, and on the fate of the dissolved Islamist-dominated parliament. “We do not accept having a president without powers. The solution being worked out now is scaling back those restrictions so that President Mursi can deliver to the people what he promised," said Essam Haddad, an aide to the president. – Reuters
