CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday sacked Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, the general prosecutor, to try to appease protesters demanding the retrial of officials they say were involved in orchestrating violence against them during last year's uprising. Mursi tried to remove Abdel Maguid Mahmoud in October to calm protesters furious about the acquittal of a number of senior officials who had stood trial over the issue. Talat Abdullah was appointed the new general prosecutor. "The public prosecutor general will occupy his post for a period of four years," said Yasser Ali, a presidential spokesman. Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi also issued a decree on Thursday that protects an assembly writing the country's new constitution from dissolution and gives it extra time to finish its work. The new constitution is a fundamental component of Egypt's transition to democracy but its drafting has been plagued by disputes, mainly pitting Islamists against their secular-minded critics. The decree read on state TV by the presidential spokesman stipulated that the assembly could not be dissolved by the judiciary or Shoura council, Egypt's upper house of parliament.
