Egypt crisis: Mursi seeks talks on parliament row

Egypt's president has said he wants talks with other institutions to resolve a constitutional crisis over his attempts to reinstate parliament.

Mohammed Mursi sparked a row with judges and the military at the weekend by issuing a decree reinstating the lower house of parliament.

The chamber was dominated by Mr Mursi's Islamist allies, and was shut down by the military before he took power.

Analysts say the dispute threatens to throw Egypt into political chaos.

The Supreme Constitutional Court had initially ruled that some of the seats in parliament's lower house were unconstitutional because election rules had been breached.

The military then dissolved the whole chamber.

But it was unclear whether the military had the authority to shut the parliament.

Mr Mursi reignited the row on Sunday when he ordered parliament to reconvene, a decree that was later overruled by the court.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Mursi's office said the decision to reopen parliament was intended to fill a power vacuum.

The statement said that the president was "committed to the rulings of Egyptian judges and very keen to manage state powers and prevent any confrontation".

"There will be consultations among all political forces, institutions and the supreme council of judicial authorities to find the best way out of this situation in order to overcome this stage together," it added.

Mr Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was elected in June in the country's first ever freely contested leadership vote.