News Analysis

TAHRIR SQUARE, CAIRO -- This was the place where the revolution began: the roundish square where Egyptians celebrated Mubarak's fall.

This is where they are shouting on bullhorns again, outraged because they say the Muslim Brotherhood has stolen the revolution and is railroading though a constitution that could lock in Muslim Brotherhood rule for 50 years, bringing more Islamic law. They cry -- not against Islam -- but that an extremist interpretation is being forced down their throats by a president who critics say is acting every part the tyrant.  

This is also a warning, they claim, of what may happen across the Middle East. The era of the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have arrived. President Obama has hailed the Brotherhood's President Mohammed Morsi as a pragmatist who helped end the Gaza crisis. Egyptians here think the Brotherhood has conned Washington, just like it conned them.

Christians, liberals left out as Islamists back Egypt's draft constitution

"President Obama is supporting a terrorist," a man told me amid chants of "Leave! Leave!" in Tahrir Square and "Down, down with the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader." Before, it was "Down, down with Mubarak."

Morsi's decree divides Egypt
Egypt was torn in half just over a week ago when Morsi made himself more powerful than Mubarak ever was, and the kings before him. Morsi declared himself above judicial oversight, his decisions final and unassailable. He made himself, according to critics, a new pharaoh on the Nile. Imagine if, after five months in office, an American president announced that he could pass any law he pleased regardless of Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court. Imagine if he said his decisions were final and inspired by God.

Morsi last night apologized for the power grab and said he didn't want the extra authorities, but that they were necessary for the good of the people and to safeguard the revolution. Dictators always say stuff like that. Burn down the village to save it.

At first Egyptians were shocked that Morsi would make such an obvious and, according to Egyptian judges, blatantly illegal move. It's clear now, as some analysts have long feared, that the brotherhood is making sure it doesn't lose power again by taking control of Egypt's constitution. The Brotherhood wants to write the rules of the game. Now they've done that too.

PhotoBlog: Dueling demonstrations in Cairo

Protected by the president's new-found supreme and unquestionable powers, Morsi ordered his Islamist allies to finish writing the constitution and get it on his desk by the end of this week. They did it, even though many independent legal experts, Christians and opposition politicians boycotted the drafting process. The Brotherhood called the new constitution "a jewel." Many Egyptians say it leaves too much room for the implementation of Shariah law.  

The constitution also empowers the people and government with a duty to uphold moral values, a vague clause that could pave the way for vigilante morality police. The constitution barely mentions protecting women's rights. According to women who were originally involved in the drafting process, and who subsequently left because they felt they were being ignored, clauses specifically demanding that women be protected from violence and sex trafficking were dropped because Islamists feared it would conflict with their desire to allow child brides.

ANALYSIS: Crisis tests Egyptians' constitution

The constitution has long been the Muslim Brotherhood's lodestar and, in the past, they have been willing the kill for it. In 1954, not long after a group of 'free officers' carried out a coup against the British-backed monarchy, a Brotherhood assassin tried to kill President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser, a leading free officer, favored a mostly secular, pro-military constitution. The Brotherhood, an Islamist group that supports the return of Arab and Islamic unity and the revival of ancient Muslim glory and Shariah laws, couldn't accept the new rules.

The Brotherhood's assassination attempt failed. The gunman's eight bullets, fired while Nasser was giving a speech in Alexandria, all missed. The Brotherhood was banned. The group went underground, at times tolerated but more often repressed by Nasser's successors: presidents Mubarak and Anwar el-Sadat. When the revolts started against Mubarak, the Brotherhood saw that fate had given them another chance.

Muslim Brotherhood's calculated rise to power
Looking back now, it all seems so obvious, yet many Egyptians refused to see it coming. In fact, many of the secular revolutionaries backed the Brotherhood, arguing they were better allies than the hated military. The Brotherhood played its cards well.

The Brotherhood was late to join the anti-Mubarak revolts in 2011. When students and liberals initially occupied Tahrir Square, it looked like it might be a passing thing. The Brotherhood either didn't appreciate its significance, or wanted to wait to see who was winning.

I remember watching the Brothers march into the square. They arrived in a large group of perhaps five hundred. Nearly all were men. Many had beards. Most were dressed in poorly cut dark suits. They occupied a corner of Tahrir near a Kentucky Fried Chicken. They came with microphones and wood to build a platform. The other protesters in the square seemed happy to have the support of the new arrivals.

Egypt's Morsi, top judges compromise to defuse soaring tensions over decree

The protests continued to grow. Labor unions went on strike. The military enacted a coup against Mubarak. President Obama withdrew his support for Washington's long-time Arab friend. And Mubarak the president was no more.

The Brotherhood first said it wouldn't seek the new presidency at all. It promised to exist solely as an influential member of civil society. Back then, many Egyptians feared the Brotherhood. It was a semi-secret group. It had a small office in a Cairo apartment building with a sign on the door the size of an index card. Mubarak-era officials had often described the Brotherhood as a group of terrorists. One security official I know called the Brotherhood the most dangerous group in the world. But in the heady 1960s-like days after Mubarak's resignation, the Brotherhood's bad reputation only seemed to give the group more credibility. They'd been oppressed by the man. It was a new day. Everyone, it appeared, deserved a new beginning.

The Brotherhood went to work. It organized its considerable finances. It built a big new headquarters with far bigger signs on the doors. It sent its representatives around the world, especially to Washington, on a charm offensive. We've been oppressed, they claimed. We were slandered by a tyrant. We're not what you've heard. We can unite the Sunni world against Iran. We can help bring Israeli-Palestinian peace. There were many promises of a great future.

Even then, the Brotherhood's focus on the constitution was clear. The Brotherhood insisted the constitution be drafted only after a new president was elected. The military was overseeing a transition back then. The Brotherhood argued that the military couldn't be trusted to oversee the creation of such an important document. Many Egyptians agreed -- a decision some sorely regret today.

NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin discusses the current unrest in Egypt

Morsi won the election by a narrow margin and then five months into his term, made himself a dictator and ordered his Islamist friends to quickly finish the constitution. Morsi has said he'll drop his extraordinary powers as soon as the constitution is approved in a referendum in December. Islamists are convinced they'll be able to use their grassroots network of activists to win the referendum like they won the elections. Western diplomats tend to agree.

Yet the United States has remained mostly silent on all this, urging both sides to stay calm and work it out. Washington's policy seems to be that what's going on is simply democracy in progress as Egyptians learn to use their new rights.

But in Tahrir Square people seem convinced the Brotherhood isn't testing its fledgling wings. They say Morsi knows exactly what he's doing, Washington be warned. 

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CAIRO -- Islamists approved a draft constitution for Egypt early Friday without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that further inflames the conflict between the opposition and President Mohammed Morsi.

The vote by the constituent assembly advanced a charter with an Islamist bent that rights experts say could give Muslim clerics oversight over legislation and bring restrictions on freedom of speech, women's rights and other liberties.

The draft, which the assembly plans to deliver to the president Saturday, must be put to a nationwide referendum within 30 days. Morsi said Thursday it will be held "soon."

Morsi added that the decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which provoked protests and violence from Egyptians fearing a new dictator was emerging less than two years after they ousted Hosni Mubarak, was "for an exceptional stage."

"It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution," he told state television on Thursday night. "There is no place for dictatorship."

External link: English translation of Egypt's draft constitution

The Islamist-dominated assembly that has been working on the constitution for months raced to pass it, voting article by article on the draft's more than 230 articles for more than 16 hours. The lack of inclusion was on display in the nationally televised gathering: Of the 85 members in attendance, there was not a single Christian and only four women, all Islamists. Many of the men wore beards, the hallmark of Muslim conservatives.

For weeks, liberal, secular and Christian members, already a minority on the 100-member panel, have been withdrawing to protest what they call the Islamists' hijacking of the process.

"This constitution represents the diversity of the Egyptian people. All Egyptians, male and female, will find themselves in this constitution," Essam el-Erian, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared to the assembly after the last articles were passed just after sunrise Friday.

ANALYSIS: Crisis tests Egyptians' constitution

"We will implement the work of this constitution to hold in high esteem God's law, which was only ink on paper before, and to protect freedoms that were not previously respected," he said.

The sudden rush to finish came as the latest twist in a week-long crisis pitting Brotherhood veteran Morsi and his Islamist supporters against a mostly secular and liberal opposition and the powerful judiciary. Voting had not been expected for another two months. But the assembly abruptly moved it up in order to pass the draft before Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court rules on Sunday on whether to dissolve the panel.

Slideshow: Egypt's revolution and the fall of Mubarak

Ahmed Youssef / EPA

Eighteen days of popular protest culminated in the downfall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011.

Launch slideshow

"I am saddened to see this come out while Egypt is so divided," Egypt's top reform leader, Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said, speaking on private Al-Nahar TV. But he predicted the document would not last long. "It will be part of political folklore and will go to the garbage bin of history."

NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin discusses Egypt unrest

A new opposition bloc led by ElBaradei and other liberals said the assembly had lost its legitimacy.

"It is trying to impose a constitution monopolized by one trend and is the furthest from national consensus, produced in a farcical way," the National Salvation Front said in a statement, read by Waheed Abdel-Meguid, one of the assembly members who withdrew.

Thursday's vote escalates the already bruising confrontation sparked last week when Morsi gave himself near absolute powers by neutralizing the judiciary, the last branch of the state not in his hands. Morsi banned the courts from dissolving the constitutional assembly or the upper house of parliament and from reviewing his own decisions.

In a sign of the divisions, protesters camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square who were watching the interview chanted against Morsi and raised their shoes in the air in contempt. 

The president's edicts sparked a powerful backlash in one of the worst bouts of turmoil since last year's ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. At least 200,000 people protested in Cairo's Tahrir square earlier this week demanding he rescind the edicts.

Street clashes have already erupted between the two camps in the past week, leaving at least two people dead and hundreds injured. And more violence is possible.

The opposition plans another large protest for Friday, and the Brotherhood has called a similar massive rally for the following day, though they decided to move it from Tahrir to avoid frictions. Bands of youths have been daily battling police on a road leading off the square and close to the U.S. Embassy.

Defiance
The Constitutional Court's announcement that it would rule on the legitimacy of the assembly was in direct defiance of Morsi's edicts. It will also rule Sunday on whether to dissolve the upper house of parliament, which is overwhelmingly held by Islamists. Most of the nation's judges are on indefinite strike to protest the edicts.

It is not clear what would happen to the approved draft if the court dissolves the assembly. The crisis could move out of the realm of legal questions and even more into the more volatile street, to be decided by which side can bring the most support.

The opposition is considering whether to call for a boycott of any referendum on the constitution or to try to rally a "no" vote, said Hamdeen Sabahi, a National Salvation Front leader who ran in this year's presidential race and came in a surprisingly strong third.

"The people should not be made to choose between a dictatorial declaration or a constitution that doesn't represent all the people," he told independent ONTV, referring to Morsi's decrees. "He is pushing Egypt to more division and confrontation."

During Thursday's session, assembly head Hossam al-Ghiryani doggedly pushed the members to finish. When one article received 16 objections, he pointed out that would require postponing the vote 48 hours under the body's rules. "Now I'm taking the vote again," he said, and all but four members dropped their objections. In the session's final hours, several new articles were hastily written up and added to resolve lingering issues.

"We will teach this constitution to our sons," al-Ghiryani told the gathering.

More Egypt coverage from NBC News

Islamist members of the panel defended the fast tracking. Hussein Ibrahim of the Brotherhood said the draft reflected six months of debate, including input from liberals before they withdrew.

"People want the constitution because they want stability. Go to villages, to poorer areas, people want stability," he said.

Over the past week, about 30 members have pulled out of the assembly, with mainly Islamists brought in to replace some. As a result, every article passed overwhelmingly.

Human Rights Watch Rights groups criticized the hurried manner in which the constituent assembly pushed the draft charter through, saying it not the right way to guarantee fundamental rights or the rule of law.

"Rushing through a draft while serious concerns about key rights protections remain unaddressed will create huge problems down the road that won't be easy to fix,"said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for the New York-based group.

The draft largely reflects the conservative vision of the Islamists, with articles that rights activists, liberals and others fear will lead to restrictions on the rights of women and minorities and on civil liberties in general.

'Morals and values'
One article that passed underlined that the state will protect "the true nature of the Egyptian family ... and promote its morals and values," phrasing that suggests the state could prevent anything deemed to undermine the family.

The draft says citizens are equal under the law but an article specifically establishing women's equality was dropped because of disputes over the phrasing.

As in past constitutions, the new draft said the "principles of Islamic law" will be the basis of law.

Previously, the term "principles" allowed wide leeway in interpreting Shariah. But in the draft, a separate new article is added that seeks to define "principles" by pointing to particular theological doctrines and their rules. That could give Islamists the tool for insisting on stricter implementation of rulings of Shariah.

Another new article states that Egypt's most respected Islamic institution, Al-Azhar, must be consulted on any matters related to Shariah, a measure critics fear will lead to oversight of legislation by clerics.

The draft also includes bans on "insulting or defaming all prophets and messengers" or even "insulting humans" — broad language that analysts warned could be used to crack down on many forms of speech.

It also preserves much of military's immunity from parliamentary scrutiny, putting its budget in the hands of the National Defense Council, which includes the president, the heads of the two houses of parliament and top generals.

The final draft contains historic changes to Egypt's system of government. It limits to eight years the amount of time a president can serve, for example. Mubarak was in power for three decades. It also introduces a degree of oversight over the military establishment - though not enough for critics.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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News analysis

Last week’s sweeping power grab by Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi has thrown the country’s political elite into crisis, and prompted tens of thousands of Egyptians to take to the streets in protest. But much of the fury over his most recent moves probably has more to do with the way he chose to act than what he has actually done.

The conflict roiling the Arab world’s most populous country has been painted by some international observers and many regular Egyptians as a struggle between autocratic Islamists and democratic secularists. Indeed, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood party have angered many with how they managed to win power democratically and then tried to consolidate it by decrees.

In a move quickly pounced on by critics, Morsi’s decree last week gave the body charged with writing a draft constitution two more months to finish its work. The decree essentially prevents challenges to the president's rule until the end of the two-month transitional period so that any decision made by Morsi cannot be questioned by the judiciary.

If the so-called constituent assembly, the elected constitutional body that is now dominated by Islamists, would have dissolved, it would have been seen as a victory by many liberal and secular Egyptians.

But Morsi’s decree will allow the assembly to finish its essential work, Henry Smith of the international consultancy Control Risks told NBC News.

'Leave, leave': Egyptians gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest president's decree

"There was a risk that the body writing the constitution would be disbanded by legal judgments but according to his decree, we should see a draft in February," he added. "And if that is decided then we could have a new constitution by mid-2013."

As the struggle of the constituent assembly shows, Morsi and his government have been locked in a struggle with the judiciary.

And however dictatorial Morsi’s recent moves may have been, the judiciary is no paragon of democracy. Indeed, even many of the Brotherhood’s opponents think the judiciary is corrupt and packed with loyalists of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The lack of accountability for the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution illustrates why many Egyptians do not trust the judiciary. None of the former regime officials brought to trial for these deaths has been convicted.

The judiciary also upheld the dissolution of parliament, halting essential efforts, such as reforming fiscal and economic policies meant to liberalize and jump-start the economy.

According to liberal and secular parties, the president  didn't consult with them before issuing his decree on Thursday -- a claim disputed by Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party — thus losing the opportunity to be seen as a leader willing to reach across political divides and interested in creating consensus.

And those protesting his power grab have reason to be suspicious. After all, Mubarak promised to be a one-term president at the beginning of what ended up as a 30-year rule.

In the end, Egypt is new to the art of politics and its actors unused to sharing power and debating issues publicly.

As international consultant Smith says: "Putting aside some of the autocratic elements of his recent decree, Morsi’s move could be seen as a positive move."

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CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and top Egyptian judges on Monday moved to defuse a crisis in the country, with both sides backing down from a battle over Morsi’s sweeping self-appointed powers.

Coming out of emergency meetings in Cairo, Morsi issued a statement in which he agreed that only his decisions related to "sovereign" matters would be protected from judicial review, his spokesman said, indicating he had accepted a compromise proposed by the judiciary members.

On Thursday Morsi alarmed Egyptians and international observers when he decreed sweeping powers for himself that effectively would automatically make all of his rulings lawful and immune to judicial review.

The seeming power grab prompted tens of thousands of Egyptians to take to the streets to protest, some clashing with police, for the past four nights.

Morsi’s four-point statement issued Monday says that only "sovereign decisions" — for instance, those related to declaring war and dealing with existential threats — would fall under the decree. Even those powers would only apply until there is a new constitution and fresh parliamentary elections, expected in two months.

The statement went on to express respect for the "immunity and independence" of the judiciary. It also qualified his earlier call for a retrial of former regime officials — including dictator Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in February 2011 after three decades in power. Such retrials would occur only if new evidence emerged, the statement said.

Morsi was propelled to power by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that had long struggled against the Mubarak regime.

The judges did not release their own statement but the presidential spokesman said that they had approved the compromise.

Shortly after a presidential spokesman read the statement on Egyptian TV, the Muslim Brotherhood — the parent organization of Morsi’s Freedom & Justice Party — issued its own statement, calling off its planned 'millionya' — or 'million man march' — "until further notice." Their rally, in support of Morsi, had been slated for Tuesday.

Photoblog: Protesters in Tahrir Square hold funeral for activist killed in clashes

Mohamed Beltagui, a top Muslim Botherhood official, who appeared on the broadcast, explained that the organization was making the change to avoid any potential violence, and in hopes of opening up a 'channel of dialogue' with Morsi’s opponents. 

Egyptian Presidency via EPA

President Mohammed Morsi, center, meeting with top Egyptian judges in Cairo on Monday in an effort to defuse a crisis over Morsi's self-proclaimed powers, announced on Thursday.

Both the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi's opposition had called for mass demonstrations on Tuesday, raising fears that heightened emotions could lead to clashes in the streets.

Despite these developments, opposition leaders said they would continue their protest until Morsi completely rescinded his 'dictatorial' decree.

Meanwhile, the several hundred protesters camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square — the site of the 2011 uprising — say they intend to continue their 'sit-in.'

Some declared that Morsi is irrelevant.

"It’s over," said one protester who runs a medical clinic for injured protesters off the square. "The second revolution has already begun."

Another said Morsi needs to tear up his decree and resign.

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CAIRO -- Egypt's highest judicial authority on Saturday said President Mohammed Morsi's decree granting himself new powers marked an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary, while critics and supporters planned for rival rallies on Tuesday.  

Meanwhile, a huge explosion rocked the city of Rafah near the Gaza Strip, and al Arabiya reported that part of an intelligence building had collapsed. The border crossing at Rafah has been closed on and off over security issues, severely restricting the flow of goods to Gaza.

Youths clashed with police in Cairo for a second day, confronting Egypt with a crisis that has exposed the split between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents. 

A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near Tahrir Square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against a decree that has rallied opposition ranks against Morsi. 

Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of teargas hung over the square, the heart of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in February 2011.

More than 300 people were injured on Friday. Offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Morsi to power, were attacked in at least three cities.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for a mass demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday to show support for Morsi. It also called for shows of support in public squares across Egypt after early evening prayers on Sunday.

Parties opposed to the decree have also called for a protest on Tuesday in Cairo, though in a different square from the one where the Brotherhood called on its supporters to gather. 

Leftist, liberal and socialist parties have called for an open-ended sit-in with the aim of "toppling" the decree, which has also drawn statements of concern from the United States and the European Union. A few dozen activists manning makeshift barricades kept traffic out of the square on Saturday.

Calling the decree "fascist and despotic", Morsi's critics called for a big protest on Tuesday against a move they say has revealed the autocratic impulses of a man jailed by Mubarak, who outlawed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Issued late on Thursday, the decree marks an effort by the Morsi administration to consolidate its influence after it successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August.

The decree reflects the Muslim Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days: it guards from judicial review decisions taken by Morsi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the Islamist-dominated assembly with dissolution.

The Morsi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.

"It aims to sideline Morsi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down," Zarwan said.

A central element of Egypt's transition, the drafting of the constitution has been plagued by divisions between Islamists and their more secular-minded opponents, nearly all of whom have withdrawn from the body writing the document. 

Morsi's new powers allowed him to replace the prosecutor general -- a Mubarak holdover who the new president had tried to replace in October only to kick up a storm of protest from the judiciary, which said he had exceeded his authorities.

At an emergency meeting called to discuss the decree, the Supreme Judicial Council, Egypt's highest judicial authority, urged "the president of the republic to distance this decree from everything that violates the judicial authority".

The Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, late called for a strike by judges and prosecutors during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the "downfall of the regime" -- the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Mubarak last year. 

Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising. "The people support the president's decisions," declared Freedom and Justice, the newspaper run by the Brotherhood's political party.

The ultraorthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind the decree.

The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Morsi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Facing the biggest storm of criticism since he won the presidential election in June, Morsi addressed his supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday. He said opposition did not worry him, but it had to be "real and strong".

Candidates defeated by Morsi in the presidential vote joined the protests against his decision on Friday. Former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was photographed linking arms with leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, liberal Mohamed ElBaradei and others.

Morsi is now confronted with a domestic crisis just as his administration won international praise for mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

The European Union urged Morsi to respect the democratic process, while the United Nations expressed fears about human rights.

NBC News staff contributed to this report.

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Updated at 5:05 p.m. ET: Opposition protesters clashed with police in several Egyptian cities Friday after new Islamist President Mohammed Morsi awarded himself sweeping new powers.

Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse tens of thousands of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the center of anti-regime protests that ousted longtime U.S.-backed leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

"The people want to bring down the regime," shouted protesters, echoing a chant used in the anti-Mubarak uprising. "Get out, Morsi," they chanted.

State TV also said Morsi opponents set fire to Muslim Brotherhood offices in the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia.

Clashes also erupted between police and opposition protesters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the southern city of Assiut and in Giza, the sister city of the capital. In Alexandria, Morsi opponents hurled stones at Brotherhood supporters outside a mosque and stormed a nearby office of the group.

However, Muslim Brotherhood backers gathered in front of the presidential palace in northern Cairo to support Morsi -- illustrating a widening gulf over Egypt’s future.

Tarek Fawzy / AP

Protesters opposed to President Mohammed Morsi break into the offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, in Alexandria, Egypt, on Friday.

Wide powers
Buoyed by accolades from around the world for mediating a truce between Hamas and Israel, Morsi on Thursday ordered that an Islamist-dominated assembly writing the new constitution could not be dissolved by legal challenges.

Other changes give Morsi power to take security measures to protect his position, which rights groups say are like new emergency laws.

Morsi belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood until he ran for the presidency and still depends on the group for political support.

On Friday, Morsi confirmed that he will move forward on his plans because he insisted they were for the good of the country.

Complete coverage of the Middle East & North Africa 

"I am for all Egyptians. I will not be biased against any son of Egypt,'' Morsi told the crowd outside the presidential palace, adding that he was working for social and economic stability and the rotation of power.

"Opposition in Egypt does not worry me, but it has to be real and strong,'' he said in response to his critics.

Morsi also said Friday that his government would pay $5,000 to the families of those who died in the protests to oust Mubarak and $3,333 to those who were injured.

'New pharaoh'
The changes, announced late Thursday, prompted outrage among secularists and liberals. 

Critics accuse Egypt president of trying to become 'new pharaoh' with decree

Mohammed ElBaradei, a prominent pro-democracy figure and former head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency, accused Morsi of declaring himself a "new pharaoh."

"Morsi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh," ElBaradei said on Twitter. "A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences."

"Morsi a 'temporary' dictator','' was the headline in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

By ousting military chiefs, Egypt's Morsi shows he's a force to be reckoned with

The U.S. State Department signaled its concern Friday over Morsi’s declarations.

"One of the aspirations of the revolution was to ensure that power would not be overly concentrated in the hands of any one person or institution," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "The current constitutional vacuum in Egypt can only be resolved by the adoption of a constitution that includes checks and balances, and respects fundamental freedoms, individual rights, and the rule of law consistent with Egypt's international commitments."

Nuland called for calm and for all parties in Egypt to resolve differences through "democratic dialogue."

Meanwhile, the United Nations expressed serious concerns Friday about human rights and stability in Egypt.

Tarek Fawzy / AP

Protesters hurl stones during clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi in Alexandria, Egypt, on Friday.

"We are very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt," Rupert Colville, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay's spokesman, told a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva. "We also fear this could lead to a very volatile situation over the next few days, starting today in fact."

Morsi's decree is also bound to worry Western allies, particularly the United States, a generous benefactor to Egypt's army.

NBC News' Charlene Gubash, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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News analysis

Updated at 5:41 a.m. ET on Nov. 7: Barack Obama faces no shortage of foreign challenges as he enters his second term as commander in chief.

While it is impossible to predict what may come, here’s a look at 10 issues likely to emerge as priorities for his administration:

1. Possible Afghan collapse/civil war
The Afghan government has been propped up by American and NATO troops and money but has failed in its basic functions of establishing national trust, security and unity. Afghanistan could devolve into a civil war as U.S. troops draw down in 2014, with old rivalries re-emerging between the north and south/southeast.

Once again, the country could be torn by an ethnic war between the Pashtuns and the now-defunct Northern Alliance, a legion of Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara militias. The risk is that Afghan security forces will then split along ethnic lines and President Hamid Karzai, whom critics accuse of being an uncooperative U.S. ally, could become an even greater liability.

On a recent visit to Afghanistan I spoke to some Tajik villagers outside Kabul, who promised me they would start fighting once American troops leave. They said they would battle a group of pro-Taliban Pashtun villagers nearby. When asked if Karzai's troops would be able to stop a clash, one tribal elder told me, "The corrupt government in Kabul? It can't do anything."

The dangers of an Afghan collapse are many: Afghan deaths, a loss of American prestige, a loss of NATO prestige, a moral blow to U.S. troops and veterans, a Taliban resurgence, huge setbacks for women, and greater power for Pakistan and Pakistani extremists.

Read more Afghanistan coverage from NBCNews.com

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

2. Possible Iran implosion or explosion
Iran, which is being pushed to a breaking point by U.S.-led currency and banking sanctions, won't simply sit back and watch its economy crumble. Persia is 7,000 years old and will fight to survive.

The increasingly isolated country is likely to act in one of three ways: accommodation and negotiation, weaponization, or diversion.

Faced with the crippling sanctions, Iran could simply decide it is paying too high a cost to pursue its nuclear program and could opt for negotiations and reconciliation with the United States and other members of the international community. This is clearly the preferred option of American leaders.

The other possibilities are more problematic. Iran could rush toward a nuclear capability, deciding the best way to survive is to obtain weapons so horrific that no one would dare attack. A nuclear program has arguably worked as a deterrent for North Korea and other states -- would Moammar Gadhafi have been deposed and summarily killed if Libya had had nuclear weapons? Iranians might not think so.

Source: Back-channel talks but no US-Iran deal on one-to-one nuclear meeting

A less risky approach would be to provoke a diversionary conflict through Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Shiites in Bahrain, the Kurdistan Workers Party in Syria and Turkey, its position in the Strait of Hormuz -- or it could try to inflame anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment.

Iran also could try to attack the American economy through sabotage or cyber warfare. Cornered as it is, Iran could become the aggressor instead of -- as it sees itself -- the passive victim.

Slideshow: Everyday life in Iran

At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

Launch slideshow

How Iran acts is up to its choosing but it's hard to see how it won't act -- for better or worse -- as the sanctions continue to bite.

Read more Iran coverage from NBCNews.com

3. Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood
The Arab Spring has empowered the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East and beyond. It and other ideologically similar and allied groups run the governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Gaza.

In Syria, the Brotherhood has a strong presence among the rebels and in Yemen, it runs half the government and much of the state's day-to-day functions. In Jordan and Morocco, the Brotherhood is the main opposition to the countries' ruling royal families. In leaderless Libya, it is an increasingly organized voice. And in Algeria, the movement's officials warn that their revolution is coming.

The Muslim Brotherhood's influence in the Middle East is likely to evolve in one of two ways. Military regimes that have been pushed aside could fight back and launch counter-Islamic revolutions, clawing back the Brotherhood's gains and keeping it tied up in internal political battles. This is already starting to happen in Egypt.

Analysis: Egypt's big turn under the Muslim Brotherhood

Conversely, the Muslim Brotherhood could consolidate its gains and dominate electoral politics in the Middle East for the next several years.

For the United States, the rise of the Brotherhood is not in itself a major challenge. Most of its leaders say they want good relations and economic ties with Washington. The problem, however, is Israel. The Brotherhood is fundamentally anti-Israel, and Washington is fundamentally pro-Israel.

While analysts can debate which presidential candidate is closer to Israel, both have expressed their commitment to it and its security -- just as every U.S. president has done.

But the Muslim Brotherhood will not make the same commitments to Israel's integrity and security. While campaigning to win the election in Egypt, the Brotherhood held rallies featuring speakers who called for the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Brotherhood does not understand why Washington chooses to befriend one small country at the expense of relations with millions of Arabs and over a billion Muslims. Washington rejects having to make this choice.

This rift could become a showdown and devolve into violence. The timing depends on American policy and outside provocations that can be either by design -- "peace" flotillas to Gaza, Hamas rockets, an Israeli assault on Gaza -- or by accident, such as bigoted and dumb Internet movies.

4. Cyber threat
The United States has spent a decade fighting terrorists with some notable and many debatable successes. But bombs aren't the only kind of threat. In fact, a successful cyber attack could cause national and international chaos far exceeding a bombing in a major U.S. city.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently warned about a possible cyber Pearl Harbor. Many military officials and analysts I know fully agree with him.

Panetta: Cyber intruders have already infiltrated US systems

5. Israeli strike on Iran
Israel may attack Iran's nuclear program if it believes sanctions are failing. The strike would likely delay but not stop the program, experts say. For the time being, Israel has decided to wait and see what impact the international sanctions have.

If Iran chooses a quick rush to make a bomb, Israel will most likely change course and opt for a military solution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made that point abundantly clear when he drew a red line at the United Nations and held up a picture of a bomb.

Read more Israel coverage from NBCNews.com

6. Revival of al-Qaida/Ansar al-Sharia
Al-Qaida's leaders have been killed and hunted, but the group hasn't gone away. Many al-Qaida factions have re-branded themselves under a new name: Ansar al-Sharia (partisans of Islamic law). Some of the militants also are finding new comfortable homes in the post-Arab Spring Middle East, blending into Salafist (Sunni fundamentalist) movements.

7. Rift with Pakistan
Pakistan and the United States have been locked in an uncomfortable marriage since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and arguably long before that.

US, Pakistan should 'divorce,' ex-ambassador to Washington says

Critics accuse Pakistan of taking American counter-terrorism money and military support, while at the same time supporting terrorist groups.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

Launch slideshow

If the United States cuts off Pakistan -- which may happen as Washington becomes less reliant on Pakistani supply routes into Afghanistan -- Islamabad could become more belligerent, which would cause relations to deteriorate further. The withdrawal from Afghanistan will change the costly status quo that has existed with Pakistan since 9/11, and that change is unlikely to go smoothly.

Read more Pakistan coverage from NBCNews.com

8. Mexico and the growing war on drugs
According to some estimates, Mexico has become the most dangerous country in the world. Around 50,000 people have been killed in the country's drug wars. It is unclear if Mexico's President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto will be able to contain the violence, which has spread south to Central America and is showing signs of leaking north into the United States.

Read more Mexico coverage from NBCNews.com

Slideshow: Narco culture permeates Mexico, leaks across border

Mexico's drug war is also part of a drug culture with roots in music, movies and even religion

Launch slideshow

9. US 'pivot' to Asia/China slowdown
In 2011, China overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest economy after the United States. The Obama administration has acknowledged China's growing military and political power, and has pledged to "pivot" or deploy more than half of the U.S.' naval assets to the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the decade. This, some argue, has contributed to souring relations between the two powers.

Adding to the troubles, China isn't cheap anymore and Chinese workers are no longer as willing to accept poor conditions and little pay. Strikes are increasingly common. Removing dissent from Chinese Internet sites is a full-time job for government censors. Growth rates remain high, but the cost of living and labor demands are going up.

Factories are already moving out of China to cheaper labor markets in Indonesia and Bangladesh. If China's economic growth slows for a prolonged period, the world will be dramatically impacted. The country's economic expansion has driven up oil prices and has made parts of the Middle East, Russia and Brazil exceptionally rich. Could labor unrest threaten the ruling Communist Party's grip? Any move from this giant creates a huge wake that will quickly wash onto American shores.

Read more China coverage on NBC's Behind The Wall

10. United States: Drifting?
For a decade, the United States has made fighting terrorism its main foreign policy goal. This is by definition a reactionary policy and is limited in focus -- without a global vision or sense of destiny.

In contrast, American rivals appear to have grand plans in place. Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, seems intent on regaining its Soviet and Tsarist glory. Turkey is flexing its muscles regionally and is re-establishing some of its Ottoman legacy and prominence. China is looking to consolidate its hold on swathes of Asia and beyond.

Full coverage: NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series

But what does the United States want to do? What is our goal? It is impossible to be influential if we don't know where we are going -- and any malaise would be damaging to the national interest. World powers must move to survive. Drifting is sinking.

More election coverage from NBCNews.com:

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Egyptian Presidency via AFP - Getty Images

A handout picture released by the Egyptian presidency shows Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi, right, meeting Monday with newly-appointed Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the presidential palace in Cairo.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi may be owed an apology.

Many observers had him pegged as the rather boring, mild-mannered sort who would not say "boo" to a goose, never mind take on the entrenched interests of Egypt's powerful military. But signs have emerged that suggest he cannot be so easily pigeonholed.

To be fair, Morsi hid his true character well.

A former leader of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, he cut an uncharismatic figure on the election trail and won by just a whisker over the army’s favored candidate.

Then his first cabinet, unveiled at the beginning of August, held few clues to the excitement ahead. The choices were unambitious, most observers agreed.

The cabinet even included Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, personification of the old regime.

It was Tantawi who ruled Egypt after his friend Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011 after nearly three decades in power. Tantawi himself had served as minister of defense for 20 years.

But now Tantawi and the chief-of-staff, Gen. Sami Annan, have been shown the door.

Slideshow: Egypt's revolution and the fall of Mubarak

Ahmed Youssef / EPA

Eighteen days of popular protest culminated in the downfall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011.

Launch slideshow

Political pugilist?
It looks like a stunning blow to the old guard -- a move that Morsi followed by abolishing the generals' June decree that sought to curb the powers of the president’s office.

Morsi appears to be more of a fighter than anyone thought.

The armed forces had supplied Egypt's presidents for six decades, beginning with the 1952 officers' coup led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Muslim Brotherhood's political activities were tightly limited for most of those decades.

"Morsi settles the struggle for power," Reuters quoted a headline in the state-owned Al-Akhbar daily.

More coverage of Middle East & North Africa on NBCNews.com

"Morsi ends the political role for the armed forces," the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote. Another, Tahrir, called it the "president's revolution against the military," according to Reuters.

As of Monday, the military had shown no sign of challenging Morsi’s move, the official state-run news agency reported.

But the question is: Why the sudden change?

For an answer, look to the Sinai Peninsula and the attacks by Islamist militants that took the lives of 16 Egyptian border guards before making a futile attempt to storm into Israel.

The murder of so many Egyptian soldiers stoked an angry public backlash, and an emboldened Morsi fired his head of military intelligence, Mourad Mowafi, and other senior security officials.

Blow against 'the deep state'
Still, it is a dramatic leap to then fire Tantawi, by far the heaviest blow struck in Egypt's post-Tahrir Square struggle for power that pits the Muslim Brotherhood against what Egyptians call "the deep state" -- the secretive structure of security and military agencies said still to run the country.

Complete international coverage on NBCNews.com

Rarely, though, are things clear cut. 

Tantawi's old job is going to the head of military intelligence – Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of the generals who defended the use of highly controversial "virginity tests" against female democracy campaigners. And, like the new chief of staff, he is a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the much-reviled group that ran the country after the fall of Mubarak.

So it is not yet clear whether the president has really declared war on the military. But it is clear that he will not be underestimated again.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Oded Balilty / AP

Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Israel's President Shimon Peres hug after a joint statement at the president's residence in Jerusalem on Monday.

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET: JERUSALEM -- Israeli officials and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived in the country on Monday, will focus first and foremost on the political transition in Egypt where the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi took office two weeks ago.

"At the top of it (her agenda) will be her impressions and assessment of the last two days that she spent in Egypt," a senior U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity. 

Clinton, on her first trip to Israel in 22 months, and only her fourth visit as secretary of state, flew to Israel from Egypt, where she held talks on Saturday with Morsi, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, who told her Egypt will respect its international treaties. 

Many in Israel have grown increasingly concerned about the regime change in Egypt, with fears that the new government will cancel visa agreements, fail to crack-down on terrorists trying to enter the country and increase support for Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza. 

Christians snub Cairo meeting with Clinton, claim US backs Islamists

"She is bringing a very calming message," Danny Ayalon, the Israeli deputy foreign minister, told Israel Radio. "By their (the U.S.) reckoning as well, Egypt's agenda, and certainly President Morsi's agenda, will be a domestic agenda.

"He has to rehabilitate the economy there ... internal challenges that are really of utmost importance," Ayalon said according to Haaretz. "There is no change (on Egypt's commitment to the peace treaty) and I surmise there will not be in the foreseeable future." 

The downfall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year has raised questions among Israelis about whether Egypt, the first Arab nation to have made peace with Israel, will adhere to that treaty under his Islamist successor.

Clinton also saw Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council that took over when Mubarak was ousted and that is vying for influence with Morsi.

NBC News Special Correspondent Martin Fletcher, who has covered Israel for 30 years, said the big issue for Israel was indeed the changes in Egypt but more specifically lawless situation in the Sinai Penninsula.

"The bottom line is the Sinai has always been a smugglers' haven. The currency du jour, apart from African refugees, women and drugs being smuggled into Israel, is arming and providing support and shelter for Islamic militants," Fletcher said.

'Testing the water'
Analysts said Clinton was “testing the water” with the new regimes in the Middle East.

"Secretary of State Clinton's tour in the region aims to emphasize the American presence and interests in each Arab country and in particular in Egypt," according to Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, the head of Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, an organization of Palestinian academics and intellectuals. 

"Although she was very careful in her meetings and subsequent statements, the message was clearly to reinforce the links with each Arab capital and to assure Israel of its unremitting support in terms of Camp David with Egypt and the endless negotiations with the Palestinians, in addition to ongoing military strategic alliance vis-a-vis Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas," Hadi told NBC News.

Syria civil war?
Clinton anticipates a discussion about the Arab Spring, which not only brought about Mubarak's downfall in Egypt but also sparked what has become a virtual civil war in Syria, leading to instability on two of Israel's borders. 

The U.S. official said Clinton also expected to have lengthy talks with Israeli officials about the Iranian nuclear program. 

The United States and its allies suspect Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons. Iran denies that its nuclear work has a military dimension, insisting it is for electricity generation and medical needs. 

Red Cross: Syria is now in civil war, humanitarian law applies

The standoff over the issue has led the United States and other major powers to adopt a two-track approach of negotiating with Iran to try to curb its program while also imposing ever harsher economic sanctions. 

Israel, widely thought to be the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear weapons capacity, has made clear it could strike Iran if diplomacy fails to halt its nuclear work. 

Iran window closing
"With negotiations with Iran stalled and Israel's self-declared window for action closing, the U.S. no doubt feels the need to keep the Israelis in lock-step with Washington through intensive high-level engagement," said Rob Danin, an analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations who also advises Tony Blair, representative of the Quartet of Middle East mediators.

White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon visited Israel over the weekend and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is due to visit shortly, the senior U.S. official said, describing this as part of normal, intense U.S.-Israeli engagement.

Romney to travel to Israel

Clinton was scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and President Shimon Peres.

She will also see Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad but not President Mahmoud Abbas, whom she met on July 6 in Paris.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks froze in 2010 after Netanyahu rejected Palestinian demands that he extend a partial freeze on settlement construction that he had introduced at Washington's behest.

Asked in an interview Sunday with WJLA-TV, a Washington D.C. station, what he believed he failed at, President Barack Obama cited Arab-Israeli peace efforts.

"I have not been able to move the peace process forward in the Middle East the way I wanted," he said. "It's something we focused on very early. But the truth of the matter is that the parties, they've got to want it as well."  

NBC News' Lawahez Jabari, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Prominent Christian Egyptians snubbed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday because they feel the U.S. administration favors Islamist parties over secular and liberal forces in society at the expense of Egypt's 8 million Christians.

The critical theme was repeated by others Sunday in Cairo and Alexandria despite Clinton denying U.S. interference in Egyptian elections.

The politicians, businessmen and clerics who snubbed Clinton were supposed to take part in meetings between Clinton and influential members of civil society.

Coptic Christian businessman and politician Naguib Sawiris and three other Coptic politicians said in a statement they were objecting to Clinton's policies in solidarity with the mainstream Egyptian.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses with Egypt's Christian leaders for a picture Sunday after their meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

They also said that since the revolution, the U.S. administration and Clinton have paid many visits in support of Islamic political currents in society while ignoring other civil movements.

The four prominent Copts consider the meeting with the Islamist parties a form of external pressure to push the Islamists to power and ignore other civil movements. They blamed the U.S. for even showing a preference for an Islamist presidential candidate.

Egypt, a nation of nearly 84 million, is 90 percent Muslim, 9 percent Coptic and 1 percent other Christian denominations.

Two church leaders also turned their back on Clinton.

Coptic Bishop Morcos and Evangelical church leader Safwat al Bayadi refused to meet with Clinton because of what they characterized as interference in Egyptian internal affairs and U.S. support for Islamists while ignoring the majority of Egyptians.

A few hundred protesters chanted the same message in front of the Garden City Four Seasons hotel where Clinton overnighted.

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Clinton sought to dispel the idea.

"She wanted, in very, very clear terms, particularly with the Christian group this morning, to dispel that notion and to make clear that only Egyptians can choose their leaders, that we have not supported any candidate, any party, and we will not," a senior U.S. official told reporters on Sunday.

Rights for all
At a Sunday meeting of prominent women, Clinton emphasized rights for all Egyptians, not their choices.

"I came to Cairo, in part, to send a very clear message that the United States supports the rights, the universal rights of all people," she said. "We support democracy. But democracy has to be more than just elections. It has to mean that the majority will be protecting the rights of the minority."

The United States will "look to any elected government to support inclusivity, to make sure that the talents of every Egyptian can be put to work in building a new future for this ancient and incredibly important country," Clinton told a group of prominent women.

Alexandria protesters chant 'Monica'
Later in Alexandria, Clinton presided over a ceremony to reopen the U.S. consulate in Alexandria, which was closed in 1993 to save money.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

Protesters gather on an Alexendria, Egypt, street Sunday as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a flag-raising ceremony for the reopening of the U.S. consulate in the mediterranean port city.

The ceremony was moved inside as protesters grew vocal outside the consulate.

In her speech, Clinton said, "I want to be clear that the United States is not in the business, in Egypt, of choosing winners and losers, even if we could, which, of course, we cannot."

Protesters threw tomatoes, shoes and a water bottle as members of the press accompanying Clinton walked to their vans.

A tomato hit an Egyptian official in the face.

The protesters also chanted "Monica, Monica, Monica," a reference to Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who was the focus of a sex scandal with her husband, then-President Bill Clinton.

This article includes reporting by Reuters.

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