Defying military, Egypt's president orders parliament to reconvene

Page last updated at 03:20 GMT, Monday, July 9, 2012 - 08:20 EST

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Egypt's new president on Sunday ordered a parliament dominated by his Islamist party to reconvene, challenging the authority of the generals who had dissolved the assembly in line with a court order.

President Mohamed Morsi's decree appeared to catch off guard the generals who handed power to him on June 30.

In the first sign of an imminent crisis, the Supreme Council ofthe Armed Forces, the formal name of the body grouping the nation'stop generals, held an "emergency meeting" shortly after Morsi's decree was announced by the official news agency. A council member, declining to be named, told Reuters the generals had not been given prior warning.

The military had been running Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year. But, shortly before the handover to the elected president, the army put some curbs on the presidency and gave itself legislative powers.

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