Panel to complete draft of Egypt Constitution today

Leaders of the assembly drafting a new constitution for Egypt said yesterday that they would complete their work by today morning. According to commentators, the move seemed to be aimed at averting a power struggle between Egypt's president and the courts over control of the political transition.

President Mohamed Morsi's declaration seeking to subordinate judicial scrutiny to his decree until the constitution was complete set off a political crisis a week ago.

He said, he needed to protect the assembly from dissolution by judges appointed by the former president, Hosni Mubarak.

Completion of the draft could moot the constitutional conflict however, with the approval of the constitution not contingent on approval of the political opposition, the battle between Morsi and his critics is expected to escalate.

On Tuesday, the opposition assembled hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in a show of strength aimed at resisting his usurpation of power over the courts.

According to Morsi the edict had been issued as he learned the Supreme Constitutional Court was poised on Sunday to strike down the current assembly, disrupting Egypt's already chaotic transition.