Egypt's judges call for strike against presidential decree

CAIRO - Egypt's Club of Judges on Saturday called for a strike of all the courts and members of prosecution administrations across the country, trying to enforce President Mohamed Morsi to cancel the newly-issued presidential decree, official MENA news agency reported.

The club, an organization that represents judges of the whole country, asked in its extraordinary general assembly the president to issue a new decision immediately to cancel a constitutional declaration and a presidential decree issued Thursday that sacked former Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud.

Mahmoud said during the meeting that he will resort to justice on the presidential decree, adding the presidential decree aimed at disturbing the judicial power.

For his part, Ahmed al-Zend, the head of the club, said that the general assembly of the club will stick to the rejection of the new constitutional declaration and its enforcement.

Morsi decided Thursday to dismiss Mahmoud and appoint Talat Ibrahim Abdullah as the new prosecutor general, arousing controversies among political forces and the public.

Followed by the decree, Morsi issued a constitutional declaration, ruling that all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since he came into office on June 30 are final and unchallengeable by any body.