Egypt's prosecutor orders probe against opposition
By SARAH EL DEEBBy SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press?
?FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012 file photo, former Egyptian presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi, left, speaks to former director of the U.N.'s nuclear agency and Nobel peace laureate, Mohamed El Baradei, during a news conference flanked by other prominent politicians, not shown, from outside the Muslim Brotherhood, to decry what was interpreted as a de facto declaration of emergency law by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, in Cairo Egypt. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of incitement to overthrow the regime. (AP Photo/Mostafa El Shemy, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012 file photo, former Egyptian presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi, left, speaks to former director of the U.N.'s nuclear agency and Nobel peace laureate, Mohamed El Baradei, during a news conference flanked by other prominent politicians, not shown, from outside the Muslim Brotherhood, to decry what was interpreted as a de facto declaration of emergency law by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, in Cairo Egypt. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of incitement to overthrow the regime. (AP Photo/Mostafa El Shemy, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 file photo, released by the Egyptian Presidency, Nobel Peace Prize winner and head of the opposition Egyptian Constitution political party, Mohamed ElBaradei, left, meets with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, in Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of inciting the overthrow of Egypt's first elected president, Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 file photo, former foreign minister and presidential candidate Amr Moussa, center, greets supporters as he arrives to Tahrir Square to join other liberal and secular parties for a major protest against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's latest decrees granting himself almost complete powers and allowing a rushed constitution to be presented for a vote. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of incitement to overthrow the regime. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 file photo, former U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed el Baradei talks during an interview with the Associated Press at his house in the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of incitement to overthrow the regime. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)
FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 file photo, Egyptian opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahi speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his office in Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian official says the country?s top prosecutor has ordered an investigation into accusations against opposition leaders, Mohammed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, of incitement to overthrow the regime. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)
CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's chief prosecutor ordered Thursday an investigation into the leaders of the country's opposition after a lawyer accused them of incitement to overthrow the regime of newly elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a prosecution official said.
The order, issued by an appointee of Morsi, is likely to aggravate political tensions that have erupted into street violence, most recently surrounding the newly passed but divisive constitution.
The accusation, filed last month, alleged that Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize laureate and former head of the U.N. nuclear agency, along with Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister, and Hamdeen Sabahi, a former presidential candidate, campaigned to seek Morsi's overthrow.
The probe does not necessarily mean charges will be leveled but it is unusual for state prosecutors to investigate such broad charges against high profile figures. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policies.
Yara Khallaf, a spokeswoman for Moussa, said there were no official charges or summoning for investigation, declining to comment on the accusation.
Emad Abu Ghazi, the secretary general of the opposition party ElBaradei heads, said he had no details about the investigation but that the accusations and probe were "an indication of a tendency toward a police state and the attempt to eliminate political opponents."
Abu Ghazi said the former regime of Mubarak dealt in the same way with the opposition. There was no immediate comment from ElBaradei or Sabahi.
The accusation came during a political crisis over a series of presidential decrees that granted Morsi, Egypt's first elected president, and the committee drafting the disputed constitution immunity from judicial oversight.
The opposition called on Morsi to rescind his decrees and accused him of amassing too much power in his hands. It also asked for the draft constitution to be withdrawn.
The opposition organized a number of massive rallies in protest, including one outside Morsi's palace in which protesters chanted "Leave." It was a common refrain during the protests against former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year.
The rally turned violent when supporters of Morsi, who perceived the protest as a threat to his legitimacy, attacked their opponents.
Clashes erupted that turned deadly and were followed by attacks on offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the main backers of the constitution and from which Morsi hails, and the office of a liberal opposition party, al-Wafd. At least 10 people died in the violence, and the Brotherhood claimed they were mostly its supporters.
Morsi and Brotherhood officials accused the opposition of working to undermine the president's legitimacy, and accused former regime officials of working to topple him.
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