Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi decreed extensive new powers for himself Thursday, freeing his decisions from judicial review and ordering retrials for former top officials, including former president Hosni Mubarak, the Washington Post reports. The decree, issued just a day after Morsi received U.S. and international praise for mediating the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, appears to leave few, if any, checks on his power. Morsi framed his decisions as necessary to protect the revolution that toppled Mubarak nearly two years ago, but many liberal activists immediately criticized the decrees as dictatorial, with some even saying they exceeded the powers once enjoyed by Mubarak. "Morsi today usurped all state powers & appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh," former presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. "A major blow to the revolution that [could] have dire consequences."
