Egypt Mursi offers to Listen opponent,unimpressed.

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi
offered opponents a say in amending
Egypt's constitution, but railed against
"enemies" he accused of undermining the
new democracy in a defiant speech ahead
of mass protests planned to demand that
he step down.
As the Islamist head of state ended a
marathon televised address early on
Thursday, liberals said they had heard
nothing new, including any offer to include
them in committees to draft institutional
reforms and study "national reconciliation".
Opposition plans to stage a huge protest
on Sunday, when Mursi completes a year
as Egypt's first freely elected leader, were
unchanged. After two people were killed in
factional street fighting on Wednesday, the
risk remains of a violent showdown, as
Islamists also plan to rally in force.
Instability in the biggest Arab nation could
send shocks well beyond its borders.

It has
long been an ally of the United States,
which still funds Egypt's armed forces
heavily.
The army, for decades the arbiter of
Egyptian politics, has warned it may step
back in to keep order. The head of the
armed forces had a front-row seat in the
audience for Mursi's speech in Cairo, which
lasted nearly three hours.
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was
promoted by Mursi, has warned feuding
politicians that if they fail to forge
consensus and violence runs out of
control, then troops would intervene.

Mursi offered a diagnosis of Egypt's
problems since the revolution of 2011 that,
with military help, forced out Hosni
Mubarak. "Political polarization and conflict
has reached a stage that threatens our
nascent democratic experience and
threatens to put the whole nation in a state
of paralysis and chaos," he said.

He acknowledged unspecified "errors" and
promised reforms to help Egypt's fast-
growing young population; he spoke of
cutting unemployment and raising the
minimum wage but blamed opponents for
the instability that has driven the economy
into crisis.

But unmoved liberal opponents mocked
the length of his speech, his personal
attacks on public figures and the cheering
of the partisan audience seen on national
television.
"Our demand was early presidential
elections and since that was not addressed
anywhere in the speech then our response
will be on the streets on June 30," said

Mahmoud Badr, the founder of the
campaign to demonstrate on that date, the
first anniversary of Mursi's inauguration. "I
hope he'll be watching."

Badr, a 28-year-old journalist who
launched a petition for Mursi's removal
under the slogan "Tamarud-Rebel!", says it
has gathered 15 million signatures in two
months. "I feel ashamed that this man has
become a president of my state," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in Kuwait,
said: "Egypt is historically a critical country
to this region ... Our hope is that all those
interested parties who are preparing to
demonstrate will do so in a peaceful and
responsible way, that builds the future of
Egypt, doesn't tear it down."
"SABOTAGE"
Mixing anger and humor in his speech,

Mursi drew cheers from Islamist
supporters in the audience by slamming
liberal opponents he said had rejected
offers of dialogue and poured venom on
"sabotage" by Mubarak loyalists who
wanted to "turn back the clock".
"I took responsibility for a country mired
in corruption and was faced with a war to
make me fail," he said, naming senior
officials, including judges and the former
premier he beat in last year's election, as
well as neighborhood "thugs". He also
slammed some owners of hostile media,
accusing one of tax fraud.

Two hours in, he offered an olive branch -
an invitation to party leaders to meet as
soon as Thursday to start work on an all-
party committee to prepare amendments
to the constitution.
Pushed through in a referendum late last
year, the constitution has been a prime
target of opposition complaints that
Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood is using its
ability to mobilize an organized electoral
base to disregard the opinions of others.
Mursi also proposed a "national
reconciliation" committee that would
include Muslim and Christian clerics.
Minorities and secular Egyptians worry he
will subject them to Islamic laws.
Urging peaceful protests - and warning
"violence will only lead to violence" - he
urged opponents to focus on
parliamentary elections rather than on
"undemocratic" demands to overturn his
election on the streets. "I say to the
opposition, the road to change is clear," he
said. "Our hands are extended."

OPPOSITION DEFIANT

Khaled Dawoud, the spokesman of the
coalition of liberal parties that back the
petition campaign, said Mursi's call for
cooperation was not new and would not
be taken seriously. "I am more determined
than ever to go out on June 30 to demand
the removal of an absolutely irresponsible
president," he said.
"A boring speech that said nothing,"
concluded leftist former presidential
candidate Hamdeen Sabahi.
A few thousand people milled around
Cairo's Tahrir Square, the cradle of the
revolution, many waving soccer-style red
cards reading "Out!"
Ayman Anwar, a 55-year old computer
engineer, stood with his wife Azaa staring
at a screen on the traffic interchange set
up to show Mursi's speech.
"I didn't come out tonight to listen," he
said. "I came out because I'm angry. No
one could have imagined that this would
happen to Egypt. We've replaced one
dictator with another."
Before Mursi spoke, two people were killed
and more than 200 were treated for
injuries in the city of Mansoura

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