Protest in Tahrir
Protest in TahrirPhoto by AFP

Thousands of people gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square Tuesday for a demonstration organized by opponents of President Mohammed Morsi, following his latest decrees widening his powers and making his decisions immune to judicial review.

The protesters were demanding that Morsi rescind his decrees. Some have called on him to resign. There were several brief clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the morning hours.

"We will stay in Tahrir until Morsi cancels his declaration," protester Ahmed Fahmy, 34, told AFP.

The planned demonstrations come a day after Morsi met with the country's top judges in a bid to defuse the crisis over the decree, which has sparked deadly clashes and prompted judges and journalists to call for a strike.

Marches are planned in the afternoon from across Cairo into Tahrir, where the numbers are expected to swell after the end of the work day.

Demonstrations have also been called in several Egyptian provinces including Alexandria on the Mediterranean, in the Nile Delta and in central Egypt.

The protesters are angry at the decree that Morsi announced last Thursday allowing him to "issue any decision or law that is final and not subject to appeal."