In an abrupt change from its earlier radical position, the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party announced it would welcome the Sunni Islamic institution of Al-Azhar having the final say on whether "Islamic identity articles" are included in Egypt's post-30 June constitution or not.

Egypt's only Islamist party in the constitution-drafting body withdrew on Monday from an assembly session, as a dispute escalated over Islamic-related articles in the suspended 2012 constitution that is currently being revised.

Bassam al-Zarqa, the Nour Party representative in the Constitutional Committee of 50, withdrew from the committee’s meeting on Monday discussing the basic components of the Constitution and left the Shura Council building. He did not take any calls from the press.

The conservative Islamist Al-Nour Party has faced a turbulent 48 hours in the Constituent Assembly, the group tasked with amending the 2012 Egyptian constitution.

The North Cairo Criminal Court has upheld requests filed by the General Prosecution demanding freezing the assets of a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and several of their allies.

The Interior Ministry is examining the possibility of transferring the trials of Muslim Brotherhood leaders, who are detained pending investigations in Tora prison, to the Police Institute in Tora, a senior security source from the ministry said.

In an abrupt change from its earlier radical position, the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party announced it would welcome the Sunni Islamic institution of Al-Azhar having the final say on whether "Islamic identity articles" are included in Egypt's post-30 June constitution or not.

Authorities have extended the detention of Muslim Brotherhood leader Sobhi Saleh, along with 87 other members of the Islamist group.

Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II requested an amendment to the constitution's third article – which deals with "Christian and Jewish Egyptians" – in a meeting with constitution committee head Amr Moussa late on Wednesday, state news agency MENA reported.

Egyptian security forces reportedly arrested around 20 Muslim Brotherhood members on Sunday for allegedly causing disruption at both Al-Shohadaa and Saint Therese Metro stations in Cairo.

Former Shura Council and Muslim Brotherhood member Sobhi Saleh was detained for 15 more days with charges of inciting violence and killings in the Sidi Gaber area in Alexandria on 6 June 2013, Sidi Gaber court decided on Sunday, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.

The Egyptian army’s security operations in Sinai, which are conducted in coordination with the interior ministry, will not end until all the terrorist hideouts in the peninsula are cleared, the army’s spokesman said in a press conference on Sunday.

The Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday that re-enacting emergency law restores the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and overturns the principles and objectives of the January 25 Revolution.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh stated on Friday that his government will provide for its people following an intensified crackdown on the smuggling tunnels by Egyptian security forces.

Dozens of Muslim Brotherhood protesters formed human chains on Sunday on the outskirts of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, denouncing the violent dispersal of two major Islamist camps a month ago.

Former Shura Council and Muslim Brotherhood member Sobhi Saleh was detained for 15 more days with charges of inciting violence and killings in the Sidi Gaber area in Alexandria on 6 June 2013, Sidi Gaber court decided on Sunday, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.

Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat referred 62 people, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, to the Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday on charges of vandalism and committing acts of violence during protests in Ramses Square in mid-July.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has called for further civil disobedience after a similar announced two weeks ago largely failed when political groups and civilians did not respond.

Mohamed Hassan, media advisor for the Jamaa Islamiya, has denounced operations targeting the army and state institutions. “Violence that leads to murder and bloodshed is totally unacceptable,” he said.

As Egypt marks a new Coptic year, Pope Tawadros II says he believes the country will quickly recover from strife.

A spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party in Ismailiya has been arrested, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reports.