Cairo - Arab Today
Key developments in Egypt since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi took the oath one year ago. 2012 June 30: Morsi, elected president with 51.7 percent of the vote, sworn in, becoming Egypt\'s first civilian and Islamist ruler. August 5: Gunmen kill 16 guards near the border with Israel. August 12: Morsi scraps a constitutional document which handed sweeping powers to the military and ousts Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who was head of state after Hosni Mubarak\'s fall in February, 2011. November 22: Morsi decrees sweeping new powers for himself. November 30: Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts the draft constitution after a process boycotted by liberals and Christians. December 8: Morsi annuls the decree giving himself increased powers. December 15 and 22: 64 percent of voters in a two-round referendum back the new constitution, in a vote marred by low turnout. Egypt plunges into political crisis, with demonstrations by Morsi supporters and opponents sometimes turning deadly. 2013 January 24: Violence between demonstrators and police on the eve of the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Mubarak. Nearly 60 people die in a week. April 5: Sectarian violence north of Cairo kills four Christians and a Muslim. May 7: Morsi carries out a cabinet reshuffle which falls short of opposition demands. May 16: Gunmen kidnap three policemen and four soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. They are freed on May 22. June 2: Egypt\'s highest court invalidates the Islamist-dominated Senate, which assumed a legislative role when parliament was dissolved, and a panel that drafted the constitution. The presidency says the Senate will maintain its powers until a new lower house is elected. June 4: 43 Egyptian and foreign NGO employees given jail sentences ranging from one to five years for working illegally, causing international outrage. June 15: Morsi announces \"definitive\" severing of relations with war-torn Syria. June 21: Tens of thousands of Islamists gather ahead of planned opposition protests. June 23: Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warns the army will intervene if violence erupts. June 28: The US says non-essential embassy staff can leave after an American is killed during protests. June 29: US President Barack Obama urges Morsi to be more \"constructive\" as the death toll rises to eight. The Tamarod (\"rebellion\") campaign which called rallies for June 30 says more than 22 million have signed a petition demanding Morsi\'s resignation and a snap election. Source: AFP