Egyptians continue protest against president

(Vatican Radio) Protests in Egypt over President Mohamed Morsi's decision to grab sweeping powers have entered their third day.

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The president's decrees put him above judicial oversight and protect his Islamist supporters in parliament.

Protesters in Cairo at Tahrir Square, the site of the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, threw rocks Sunday at police.

The police fired back with rounds of tear gas.

Prominent Egyptian democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei called on President Morsi to rescind the near absolute powers he has granted himself.

The protests began Friday, a day after President Morsi declared that his decisions cannot be appealed by the courts or any other authority. He cited a need to protect the achievements of the 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of Mubarak after three decades in power.

Morsi's decree Thursday includes an order for retrials of former officials who used violence to suppress last year's popular revolution against Mubarak. It also bars Egypt's judiciary from dissolving the upper house of parliament and an assembly drafting a new constitution - two bodies dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.