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Violence Deepens Crisis for Morsi

The attack on anti-Morsi protesters by groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood has raised questions about Morsi’s intentions — and whether he controls or is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, reports Maggie Fick from Cairo.
Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi fight with an anti-Morsi protester during clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo December 5, 2012. Islamists fought protesters outside the Egyptian president's palace on Wednesday, while inside the building his deputy proposed a way to end a crisis over a draft constitution that has split the most populous Arab nation. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

CAIRO — A bloody night of running street battles outside President Mohammed Morsi's palace between the president's supporters and his outnumbered opponents upped the stakes in a two-week-old political crisis roiling Egypt and threatening the legitimacy of its first freely elected president.

Earlier this week, before violence erupted between pro- and anti-Morsi forces late Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 5), the crisis was primarily a political showdown over the disputed constitution that Morsi had rushed to a referendum vote on Dec. 15.

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