CAIRO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Shura Council approved on Monday President Mohamed Morsi's recent decision to impose a 30- day state of emergency as well as a curfew in the three riot-hit governorates of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia, state-run news agency MENA reported.
In the same context, the Council also approved a draft law that would allow President Mohamed Morsi to deploy the armed forces in the streets to help police preserve security and protect vital facilities.
Morsi imposed Sunday a curfew and a state of emergency in the turmoil-stricken Port Said governorate, as well as Suez and Ismailia, due to ongoing bloody clashes there.
"I asserted earlier that if I had to, I would take any extraordinary measures to stop bloodshed, preserve security and protect citizens," Morsi said, adding that the curfew in the three governorates would last 30 days, starting from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a. m. of the following day.
Over the past few days, the three governorates witnessed bloody confrontations between anti-government protesters and security forces that killed dozens and injured hundreds.
The Egyptian president attributed the bloody clashes to "sinful hands" that deviated from peaceful protest and expression of opinions to armed aggression and vandalism.
"I invite leaders of political forces for a dialogue Monday afternoon," Morsi said Sunday, stressing there was no alternative to a dialogue among the Egyptian people to overcome the ongoing crisis.
Egypt's main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front (NSF) , announced Monday the rejection of Morsi's invitation to dialogue, demanding that Morsi amend the controversial, recently-drafted constitution, form "a qualified national salvation government," sack the current prosecutor-general and subject the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to the law as pre-conditions for dialogue.
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