Morsi Mobilizes Army to Restore Order


Continuing clashes in Port Said have led to increased violence, with police failing to subdue protesters and rioters who have been attacking police stations in the city. The chaos in Port Said and elsewhere along the Suez Canal showed no signs of subsiding, and today President Morsi called on the army to regain control of the key canal cities of Suez, Ismailia, and Port Said. Protesters openly carrying firearms, a relatively uncommon sight in demonstrations thus far, were seen in Port Said. Morsi’s previous declaration of a state of emergency and curfew had done little to abate the violence.

At a joint press conference, reform leaders Mohammed ElBaradei, Hamdeen Sabahi, and Amr Moussa largely panned Morsi’s call from yesterday for a national dialogue, with the National Salvation Front proposing further nationwide demonstrations “to achieve the goals of the revolution.” Although not totally rejecting the possibility of progress through the dialogue proposed by Morsi, the opposition figures expected no real progress through such a meeting.