CAIRO – Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration Thursday in which he assumed sweeping powers that will not be subject to appeal. And in a move likely to inflame a standoff with the country's judiciary, he sacked prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, whom he failed to oust last month, appointing Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah to replace him. “The public prosecutor general will occupy his post for a period of four years,” according to the constitutional declaration, read out on television by spokesman Yasser Ali. “The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution,” said Ali. “The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal.” He also said no judicial body can dissolve the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that is writing a new constitution and which has been criticized by the secular-minded opposition for failing to represent all segments of society. The decree stipulated that the assembly could not be dissolved by the judiciary or Shoura council, Egypt's upper house of parliament. The president also ordered the retrial of leaders of Hosni Mubarak's regime for the killing of protesters in last year's uprising. The decree implies that Mubarak himself will face a retrial. He was sentenced to life in prison in June for failing to prevent the killing during the uprising that led to his Feb. 11, 2011 downfall. The Gaza ceasefire deal reached Wednesday marked a startling trajectory for Morsi. He emerged as a major regional player. He won the trust of the United States and Israel, which once worried over the rise of an Islamist leader in Egypt but throughout the week-long Gaza crisis saw him as the figure most able to deliver a deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers. “I want to thank President Morsi for his personal leadership to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and end the violence,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met Morsi Wednesday, said at a Cairo press conference with Egypt's foreign minister announcing the accord. – Agencies SWEEPING POWERS Constitution drafting panel given immunity Prosecutor General sacked Retrial of Mubarak regime leaders ordered President's decisions not subject to appeal
