An ever more divided Egypt went to the polls on Saturday for the sixth time in less than two years, with political leaders warning of chaos, instability and violence worsening whatever the result.

The current referendum on a new Islamist-oriented constitution was overshadowed by direct and violent sectarian language.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have accused the opposition of being stirred up by foreign money from the Gulf, remnants of the old dictatorship of ex-President Hosni Mubarak or, alarmingly, of being dominated by Coptic Christians trying to divide the country.

"A message to the Egyptian church from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church by Allah, if you conspire and unite with the opposition to bring Morsi down, we will have another talk," one well-known, rabble-rousing preacher, Safwat Hegazi, told a crowd of cheering supporters last week. Mr Hegazi is close to the Muslim Brotherhood backers of President Mohammed Morsi, and they have not dissociated themselves from his views.

"We say, I say to the church: yes, you share this country with us, but there are red lines, and our red line is the legitimacy of Dr Morsi.

Whoever splashes it with water, we shall splash with blood."

The constitution bans the use of torture and enshrines some basic rights. But promises of freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief are balanced by clauses banning "insults" against people or the prophets.

With few reliable opinion surveys, the outcome remains unpredictable.

Anything less than a substantial majority for the "yes" campaign is likely to bring new accusations from the opposition that the poll lacks "legitimacy".

From The Telegraph