Demonstrators vow to keep up pressure on Morsi

President Morsi gave himself virtually unrestricted powers last month, sparking a wave of protests in sizes not seen since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak early last year.

Some demonstrators have been camped in Cairo's Tahrir Square for weeks while offices of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood have been attacked.

Mr Morsi rescinded the edicts on Saturday but the opposition said that was meaningless as they had already served their purpose of pushing through a draft constitution.

Writer and activist Bassem Sabry said President Morsi got "everything he wanted," pointing out that the referendum would be held without the consensus he had promised to seek and without giving people sufficient time to study the document.

The decrees had placed the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly beyond judicial oversight to avoid the body being dissolved by the courts.

The rushed draft was passed in a marathon session boycotted by the assembly's secular and Christian members.

The proposed constitution gives Muslim clerics a say in making legislation, makes civil rights subordinate to Sharia law and fails to outlaw gender discrimination.

The concession may lead some judges to call off their two-week strike against the assault on the judiciary. If they return to work they would oversee the December 15 referendum.

It's not yet clear whether the opposition would campaign for a No vote or a boycott of the polls if the referendum went ahead.

Mr Morsi rescinded the November 22 decrees at the recommendation of a 54-member panel that he formed as part of "national dialogue" to resolve the crisis.

Most of the 54 were his allies as the opposition boycotted the body.

The military have also waded into the row.

"Anything other than (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences, something which we won't allow," it said in a statement read on state TV.

It was the first political statement by the military since the newly elected Mr Morsi sidelined it from political life soon after he was sworn in.