Adviser: Morsy studying Camp David Accords amendment issue
Al-Masry Al-Youm Mon, 13/08/2012 - 20:00
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/adviser-morsy-studying-camp-david-accords-amendment-issue

President Mohamed Morsy is studying whether to amend the Camp David Accords
to ensure Egypt’s full sovereignty and control over every inch of Sinai,
said Mohamed Gadallah, legal adviser to the president.

Calls for amending the peace treaty with Israel, which also governs the
security presence in the Sinai Peninsula, have been on the rise since last
week’s attack on a military checkpoint at the border left 16 Egyptian
security officers dead.

Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi called for the amendments
Saturday. The Revolutionary Youth Union has filed a lawsuit before an
administrative court demanding that the peace treaty between Egypt and
Israel be amended.

Morsy has vowed several times since he took office to preserve international
treaties that Egypt has signed.

Gadallah didn’t give more details on the issue while speaking to Al-Masry
Al-Youm Monday. He added that Morsy would soon order the release of another
batch of military detainees.

On Thursday, the Personal Freedom Protection Committee, formed by Morsy to
review cases of civilians held in military prisons since the 25 January
revolution, completed its second report. It submitted suggestions for
amnesty or reduction of sentences for those tried by military courts to the
president.

Based on the committee’s first report, on 19 July, Morsy ordered the release
of 572 detainees, drawing criticism for including certain extremist
Islamists in his pardon.

Regarding Morsy’s latest decision, Gadallah added that there is no
disagreement with the armed forces.

“Abolishing the Constitutional Declaration supplement was necessary to
correct an exceptional situation,” he said, referring to a document passed
by the formerly ruling military council shortly before the presidential
election that diminished the president’s powers. “The military council,
which reports to the president, should not have legislative powers.”

He said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was not involved in the
decision.

“The military council was not involved in the appointment of the new defense
minister and chief of staff,” he added. “This is the inherent right of the
president as supreme commander of the armed forces.”

Gadallah said the dissolved Parliament would not be reinstated, but that
legislative power would move to the new parliament. The president would call
for its election after the constitution is instated.

But Mahmoud al-Khodeiry, who had been chairman of the dissolved Parliament’s
legislative committee, said Parliament should be reinstated to fill the
current legislative vacuum.

A June court order dissolved the lower house of Parliament, the People’s
Assembly, ruling that parts of the electoral law had been unconstitutional.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm