Morsi bows to prosecutor

CAIRO - The Associated Press

Prosecutor Mahmoud will remain in his post, rejecting a Vatican post. EPA photo

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi backed down Oct. 13 from his decision to remove the country’s top prosecutor, keeping him in his post and sidestepping a potential clash with the country’s powerful judiciary.

The two-day standoff between Morsi and Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud escalated with a backlash from a powerful group of judges who said Morsi’s move had infringed upon their authority. The standoff, which both sides later described as a “misunderstanding,” started when Morsi had ordered Mahmoud to step down Oct. 11 in an apparent bid to appease public anger over the acquittals of former regime officials a day earlier accused of orchestrating violence against protesters last year. Morsi asked Mahmoud to become ambassador to the Vatican. But Mahmoud refused to be re-appointed and quickly defied Morsi’s decision.