Egyptian protest turns violent near presidential palace

• March comes amid rising anger over the draft charter and decrees issued by President Morsi
• Mohammed Morsi has given himself sweeping powers
• It is Egypt's worst political crisis since the ouster of Mubarak

CAIRO – Violence broke out between police and protesters Tuesday outside the presidential palace as part of escalating a crisis over the nation's new constitution and the future shape of the Egyptian state almost two years after the toppling of former despot Hosni Mubarak.

Thousands gathered for a final "warning" to President Mohammed Morsi, who self-issued a constitutional decree in November that opponents saw as a power grab but supporters viewed as vital to ensuring the path to stable democracy.

The violence erupted hours after independent Egyptian media outlets began a temporary strike on Tuesday in a nation already intensely divided and riddled with unrest less than two weeks before Egyptians are set to vote on a draft of a new constitution.

At least eight influential dailies, a mix of opposition party mouthpieces and independent publications, suspended publication for a day to protest against what many journalists see as the restrictions on freedom of expression in the draft constitution.

Those who oppose Morsi, backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, say that Tuesday's newspaper media suspension, which will continue with several television channels on Wednesday, is an effort to speak out against threats to expression and press freedoms that are posed by the Brotherhood-led government and the draft constitution.

"The media strike is a good step on the way to protect freedoms," said Basma Addeq, 29, an trainer in information technology.

Egypt's constituent assembly approved the draft constitution last Friday and includes a number of articles that could potentially jeopardize press and expression freedoms that blossomed after the uprising against Mubarak.

Article 31, for example, prohibits insults against individuals, which could perhaps open the door to a clampdown on public protests like those happening now against Morsi.

And in a stark contrast to freedoms in the West, "insult or abuse of all religious messengers and prophets shall be prohibited," the draft constitution says.

Police fired tear gas to stop protesters approaching the palace in the capital's Heliopolis district. Morsi was in the palace conducting business while protesters gathered outside. But he left for home through a back door when the crowds "grew bigger," according to a presidential official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

The violence erupted when protesters pushed aside a barricade topped with barbed wire several hundred yards from the palace walls. Police fired tear gas, and then retreated. With that barricade removed, protesters moved closer to the palace's walls, with police apparently choosing not to try and push the crowds back.

Protesters also commandeered a police van, climbing atop the armored vehicle to wave Egypt's red-white-and-black flag.

In the coastal city of Alexandria, some 10,000 opponents of Morsi gathered in the center of the country's second largest metropolis. They chanted slogans against the leader and his Islamist fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protests were dubbed "The Last Warning" by organizers amid rising anger over the draft charter and decrees issued by Morsi giving himself sweeping powers that placed him above judicial oversight. Morsi called for a nationwide referendum on the draft constitution on Dec. 15.

The "pro-Morsi camp is describing the media blackout in protest at the draft constitution as counterrevolutionary, saying those people are working for the old regime and spreading sedition," said Said Sadek, a political sociologist in Cairo.

"The media, most of these television networks, are owned by businessmen who used to gain a lot of money in Mubarak's era, so they don't like justice to come to this country," said Ahmed Hassan, a lawyer who lives in the Nile Delta and rallied in support of Morsi at a demonstration over the weekend.

"They care about themselves, in fact. All they care about is money and money and money," said Hassan, adding that most people in his community, north of Cairo, watch state media.

Divided reactions on the Egyptian street highlight an ongoing battle here between liberals and leftists on one side and predominantly Islamist supporters of Morsi on the other.

Most of Morsi's support comes from the countryside, Sadek said, where many have traditional views. A large number of people in urban areas didn't vote for him in this year's presidential election because they were worried that he would undermine the rights of women and minorities, he said.

"They fear he is not carrying the objectives of the revolution," Sadek said.

That has been at the center of the debate in recent weeks that escalated into an all-out battle between opposing political camps. Morsi's decree and a subsequent rush to pass a draft constitution incited public outrage over what liberals and leftists view as a dictatorial grab of control.

Middle East analyst David Hartwell of HIS Janes said the media move is another facet of the opposition, and that the work suspension by up to a dozen newspapers and a number of television stations "shows where the divisions lie and concerns about freedom of expression."

Because of the lack of safeguards in the constitution, he added, and because enough nuances have been removed, journalists are "concerned that if they print anything deemed to be offensive to the government, they will be put in prison."

State media is widely watched and read in Egypt and has historically been used as an instrument of the governing regime to sway its viewership and spread information. While most of the outlets on strikes are independent, however, they are still subject to censorship.

In light of the media strike, Addeq had her own idea about how to best reach the people.

"I wonder if it would be more effective if the newspapers dedicated full pages to explain the articles of the constitution to their readers, to explain both the bad side and good side of it," Addeq said.

Thousands of protesters also gathered in Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, miles away from the palace, to join several hundred who have been camping out there for nearly two weeks. There were other protests around the city separate from the one outside the palace.

"Freedom or we die," chanted a crowd of several hundred outside a mosque in the Abbasiyah district. "Mohammed Morsi illegitimate! Brotherhood! Illegitimate!" they also yelled.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Marwa Nasser reported in Cairo; Westland reported from London.