Egypt votes Saturday for the start of the Dark Ages

CAIRO (AP) — Waving swords and clubs, Islamist supporters of Egypt's draft constitution clashed with opponents in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria on Friday as tempers flared on the eve of the referendum on the disputed charter — the country's worst political crisis since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. [...]

TV stations ran rival ad campaigns — one supporting a "yes" vote for the sake of stability, another advocating a "no" vote to avoid a constitution that would divide Egypt.

"We ask people to make up their minds and decide … and go vote," Darrag told state TV.

Gaber Nassar, a liberal member of the panel who withdrew just before it approved the draft, said the document is flawed and charts a path for repression.

"This is a document that enslaves the Egyptian people, a document of repression," Nassar, a constitutional law expert, told a news conference.

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