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Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Protesters clash with supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi with Molotov cocktails and stones outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Wednesday night.
Updated at 7 p.m. ET: CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday invited political groups and legal figures to meet for a national dialogue on solutions to Egypt's political crisis after clashes between his supporters and his foes left seven dead and hundreds wounded.
Morsi did not, however, rescind decrees granting him wide powers that his opponents had demanded, and his overtures on talks were immediately rejected by opposition leaders.
The main office of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood was set ablaze late Thursday, the group's political party said, and another office used by the party was torched in a suburb south of the city, the state news agency reported.
In a nationally televised address to the nation, Morsi said he would bring together a number of groups at a Saturday meeting at the presidential palace.
"Such painful events happened because of political differences that should be resolved through dialogue," the Islamist president said after two days of violence during protests.
The discussions would center on a political roadmap after a referendum on a new constitution, Reuters reported. Morsi said they would discuss the fate of the upper house of parliament after the lower house was dissolved in June, the election law and other issues. He said plans for the referendum on December 15 were on track.
Analysis: Supporters of Islamist president push Egypt to tipping point
"I call for a full, productive dialogue with all figures and heads of parties, revolutionary youth and senior legal figures to meet this Saturday," Morsi said. He said he would harshly apply homeland security laws.
President Barack Obama called Morsi on Thursday to express his deep concern about the deaths and injuries of protesters in Egypt, the White House said in a statement.
“The President emphasized that all political leaders in Egypt should make clear to their supporters that violence is unacceptable,” the statement read. “Obama welcomed President Morsi's call for a dialogue with the opposition but stressed that such a dialogue should occur without preconditions.” The U.S. has also urged opposition leaders to join the dialogue without preconditions.
On the doorstep of Egypt's presidential palace, angry protesters accuse Mohamed Morsi of stealing power and imposing a constitution they consider illegal. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
The speech seemed to do little to ease the crisis. The opposition has already said that it would not enter a dialogue with Morsi unless he first rescinds the decrees and shelves the constitution draft hurriedly adopted by his Islamist allies.
Some members of the umbrella National Salvation Front coalition of major opposition parties have already rejected the dialogue, as did leaders of the "April 6" movement, a group instrumental in starting the Jan. 25 revolution.
Ayman Nour of al Ghad Party, who was formerly jailed under the regime of Hosni Mubarak, said the referendum must be postponed and demanded that Morsi provide evidence that acts of thuggery against protesters were planned.
The Freedom and Justice Party said on its Facebook page that the headquarters in the Mukattam district had been attacked in "a terrorist aggression'' by thugs, Reuters reported. The state news agency said the office used by the FJP was set ablaze in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. Another office was broken into near the city centerr, it said. It was not clear who set the fires or perpetrated the break in and no groups had claimed responsibility for the acts.
Some among the thousands of opposition protesters gathered near his palace on Thursday raised their shoes in contempt as they listened to Morsi, The Associated Press reported. Others broke into the iconic Arab Spring chant of "the people want to topple the regime."
Earlier Thursday, angry mobs battled each other with Molotov cocktails, rocks and sticks outside the presidential palace complex.
Egypt's Republican Guard, which witnesses said had deployed at least four tanks, later restored order outside the palace.
The street battles were the worst violence since Egypt's latest crisis erupted on Nov. 22, when Morsi assumed near absolute powers.
'Men don't have to worry about being caught': Sex mobs target Egypt's women
The large scale and intensity of the fighting marked a milestone in Egypt's rapidly emerging schism, pitting the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Islamists in one camp, against liberals, leftists and Christians in the other.
It was the first time supporters of the rival camps have fought each other since last year's uprising that toppled authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak.
Officials said seven people had been killed and 350 wounded in the violence, for which each side blamed the other, Reuters reported. The Muslim Brotherhood said six of the dead were Morsi supporters.
The commander of the Republican Guard said deployment of tanks and troop carriers around the presidential palace was intended to separate the adversaries, not to repress them.
Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood stand near tanks on Thursday that had been deployed outside the Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo.
"The armed forces, and at the forefront of them the Republican Guard, will not be used as a tool to oppress the demonstrators," General Mohamed Zaki told the state news agency.
Hussein Abdel Ghani, spokesman of the opposition National Salvation Front, said more protests were planned, but not necessarily at the palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district.
"Our youth are leading us today and we decided to agree to whatever they want to do," he told Reuters.
Analysis: Egyptians warn that Morsi is no friend of US
The fighting erupted late Wednesday afternoon when thousands of Morsi's Islamist supporters descended on an area near the presidential palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in.
The Islamists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace's main gate and tore down their tents.
After a brief lull, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived and began throwing firebombs at the president's backers, who responded with rocks.
More Egypt coverage from NBC News
By dawn, the violence had calmed. But both sides appeared to be digging in for a long struggle, with the opposition vowing more protests later Thursday and rejecting any dialogue unless the charter is rescinded.
The violence spread to other parts of the country on Wednesday. Anti-Morsi protesters stormed and set ablaze the Muslim Brotherhood offices in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo, and there were clashes in the industrial city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah in the Nile Delta north of the capital.
There were rival demonstrations outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in Alexandria. And security officials said senior Brotherhood official Sobhi Saleh was hospitalized after being severely beaten by Morsi opponents.
Morsi, for his part, seemed to be pressing relentlessly forward with plans for a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum to pass the new charter.
NBC News' Charlene Gubash, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Violence breaks out in Cairo, Egypt, outside Mohammed Morsi's presidential palace. NBC's Jim Maceda has more on the clashes and a possible constitutional compromise by the Egyptian government.
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Morsi did not, however, rescind decrees granting him wide powers that his opponents had demanded, and his overtures on talks were immediately rejected by opposition leaders.
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Note that there's no equivalence in the 2 inflexible positions: Morsi was the beneficiary of the revolt that toppled a despot. Mubarak, however, could only dream of having the broad powers that Morsi is attempting to claim. His opponents really have no choice but to reject talks until Morsi backs off on his power play.
run rabbit run
Morsy should flee to Hawaii like other dictators.
The same thing over and over and over. First Iran. America was willing to do ANYTHING in it's holy war against Communists. The result was religious lunatics taking over because America saw fit to support a dictator who tortured countless Iranians. Then Afghanistan. Over one milion Afghans dead and millions more injured as the blood price which helped with the demise of the Soviet Union. What did America give the Afghans to rebuild their country after the Soviets left? Zippo. Don't kid yourself, America will throw secularists, liberals and Christians under the bus in Egypt to maintain peace with Isreal at all costs. Oh well, maybe it's the grim political reality that Machiavelli talks about. Perhaps Frederick Nietzche was right, creating humans are the biggest mistake God ever made. (Animals are the second biggest mistake but I'll make an exception for my cats).
Smart Egyptians. Talk is always cheap from cheap dictators. It allows forces behind dictator to strengthen while opponents are threatened with extended time in Jail.
We could be doing Solar, Wind and Nuclear...why are we doing the Middle East?
To clarify...dealing with Human Rights issues in the Middle East would be a lot easier if we didn't also need their countries' oil.
You can't protest an elected official out of office. Only through the ballot box. Libs and Secularists can't win the polls, so they resort to protests. Get over it.
Tanks--- CAIRO: Egypt's army deployed tanks outside Mohamed Morsi's presidential palace on Thursday, where thousands of his supporters ...
Dex, href="">DB Mall</a>
Obama is wrong on this one ... the preconditions are that Morsi needs to rescind his decrees, throw out the Islamic constitution written only by Islamist fanatics and go back to square one. At this point they need new elections, or a civil war. Morsi has become a worse tyrant than Mubarak. If the islamists are allowed to bulldoze their way into power, it will be another generation of terrorism and war throughout the middle east.
The US needs to drop Morsi and start working with other parties. All aid must stop now.
If I recall didnt our dear leader hoot and hollar about this guy and when he was elected he patted himself on the back about it? But you know if obummer likes him he must be good.
"Such painful events happened because of political differences that should be resolved through dialogue," the Islamist president said after two days of violence during protests.
lol no it wouldnt be that islamist try to control their population with murder and fear eh?
no the peeps of egypt are not idiots and they know what extreme terrorist are all about
and like i said after egypt elected him that they will have to live with their decision
cause now its to late so more have to die
i am guessing if one in the middle east isnt killing someone else
its a bad day?
but hey we have our own government terrorist blowing taxes to the wind and then complaining about their decision
lil example : 20 million minimum so obama can go on vacation WOW im sure lots of people who pay taxes dont even vacation thanks obama ya i didnt vote for you this time
i live and learn my lessons by actions and obama you failed
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh
Should have thought about that before voting for Obama..
When will they understand?
In today's day and age, unless you are completely shut off (North Korea) - you govern at the will of the people.
The will of the people - in ALL countries - is NEVER wrong - by it's very nature, it can't be.
Governments that do not represent or care for the will of the people deserve to fail.
And Washington - that means YOU TOO. I am appalled by our government - they don't represent the people, they represent themselves. IMO, the US...needs an enema.
Obama is a Muslim and supports the Brotherhood.
That is stupid.
It's called a coup d'etat. The Islamic extremists have used the mechanisms of democracy to take power in Egypt. The radical Islamic dictatorship will never step down peacefully. BTW have you heard one word of criticism from Obama? He supports Islamic power. He helped gain control in Libya and now they've conquered Egypt with his help.
Should Egypt invest in Green Energy?
Is there anywhere else on the earth that war is as problematic as the Middle East? No. If it weren't for these wars and squabbles the world would be a pretty peaceful place. Why don't we just solve this one day. All it would take is one day and this crap would be over forever.
The last time we used a bomb was Hiroshima's "Little Boy" gravity bomb was about 12–15 kilo tons of TNT. Today's entire Operation Castle nuclear test series are from 48,200 kilo tons of TNT. Arabia, all Arabia, you might want to review the pictures of Hiroshima and then think about how much bigger these things are today. Look at the pictures and just imagine.
Just imagine what a power 4 thousand times stronger than these pictures will do to you. FOUR THOUSAND TIMES WORSE THAN LITTLE BOY
Morsi's trick to the people is," I will talk to you until all my dictator edicts are implemented then there is no reason for me to talk to you!"
Then the real bloodshed will begin. He has decimated the military leadership and filled it with Islamic militants and the same for the police. The only tolerance now is what the Islamic terrorist will define as "the Right Thing to Think and Act!"
What does this clown Morsi expect after basically making himself dictator? Hopefully Egypt can find a leader who is more interested in his country than his own idealism and power.