An Egyptian court meant to rule on the fate of an Islamist-dominated panel has deferred the case to a higher court that has already expressed its opposition to the draft charter.

Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi faced nationwide protests on Tuesday after digging in his heels over a controversial decree granting him sweeping powers.

The army also suspends the constitution after a week of deadly clashes and mass protests calling for Mursi to go after a year in office. US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned” over Mursi’s ouster and called on the army to refrain to “arbitrary arrests” of Mursi and his supporters.

Prominent liberal Egyptian leader Dr Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in yesterday as Egypt's interim vice-president for foreign relations. Nabil Fahmy, a former ambassador to the United States, will take the post of foreign minister in the new cabinet, which replaces ousted president Mohammed Mursi's government.

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi assumed sweeping powers on Thursday, prompting prominent opposition figure to accuse him of becoming a “new pharoah”.

Egypt's authorities yesterday formally detained Mohammed Mursi on suspicion of collaborating with Palestinian militants in murdering policemen and staging prison breaks, as tens of thousands of the deposed president's supporters and opponents staged rival rallies.

Thousands of Islamists rallied on Saturday in support of President Mohammed Mursi’s new expanded powers and the drafting of a contested charter, in a clear show of Egypt’s widening polarisation.

Protesters torched Muslim Brotherhood offices on Friday, as supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi clashed across Egypt a day after he assumed sweeping powers.