Egypt’s justice minister says crisis over president’s sweeping new powers near end

CAIRO – Egypt’s justice minister says a resolution is imminent to the political crisis stemming from the president’s move to give himself sweeping new powers.

Ahmed Mekki spoke to reporters Monday, hours before President Mohammed Morsi was due to meet members of the Supreme Judiciary Council to discuss the package of decrees announced Thursday. Morsi’s move put him above any kind of oversight, including that of the courts. The judiciary council is in charge of the courts.

Mekki has been mediating between the judiciary and the presidency to defuse the crisis, although he did not say on what he based his prediction for its imminent resolution.

The opposition denounced the decrees as dictatorial, and vowed to press on with street protests until Morsi rescinds them.