[An Nahar] Several hundred Salafist Moslems demonstrated in the capital on Friday to demand a stronger reference to Islamic law or sharia in Egypt's new constitution, a contentious issue of rising political tension.The size of the protest in Tahrir Square -- up to 500 people -- was limited because the main Salafist groups decided to postpone their demonstration on the issue to a later date, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.
The new constitution is to replace the 1971 charter suspended by the military which took power when president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
was ousted in February last year.
Fundamentalist Islamists want the new constitution to have the precepts of sharia as the basis for legislation, a stance rejected by liberal and secular Egyptians.
Contentious topics in the drafting of the new constitution include the role of religion, the status of women and the scope of freedom of expression and faith.