Mohamed Morsi declares emergency in three Egyptian provinces

            

 

Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi gives a television address in which he declared a state of emergency in three Suez Canal provinces.

Egypt's president has declared a 30-day state of emergency and curfews in the three Suez Canal provinces hit hardest by a wave of political violence that has left more than 50 dead in three days.
An angry Mohamed Morsi vowed in a televised address on Sunday he would not hesitate to take more action to stem the latest eruption of violence across much of the country.The three provinces are Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez.

Morsi also invited the nation's political forces to a dialogue starting on Monday to resolve the country's latest crisis. The predominantly secular and liberal opposition has in the past declined Morsi's offers of dialogue, arguing that he must first show a political will to meet some of its demands.The Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said, 140 miles north-east of Cairo, saw some of the worst violence since Hosni Mubarak's ousting nearly two years ago. Clashes flared anew on Sunday, killing seven more people and pushing the two day death toll for riots in the city to 44.

Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets for a mass funeral for most of the 37 people who died on Saturday, the worst day of clashes. Mourners chanted against Morsi."We are now dead against Morsi," said Port Said activist Amira Alfy. "We will not rest now until he goes and we will not take part in the next parliamentary elections. Port Said has risen and will not allow even a semblance of normalcy to come back."

Violence in the city erupted on Saturday after a court convicted and sentenced 21 defendants to death for their roles in a football riot in a Port Said stadium on 1 February 2012 that left 74 dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local fans from Port Said, deepening a sense of persecution that Port Said's residents have felt since the disaster.

At least 11 more people were killed in protests elsewhere in the country on Friday, when hundreds of thousands staged rallies across much of the country on the second anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak. The violence in Port Said brought the toll for three days to 53 dead.
The violence flared only a month after a prolonged crisis punctuated by violence over the new constitution. Ten died in that round of unrest and hundreds were injured.