(Adds Brotherhood reaction, details) By Abdel-Sattar Hatita CAIRO, March 19 (Reuters) - Egypt's parliament approved a series of constitutional amendments on Monday billed as reforms but which rights groups say will gravely undermine what they see as already shaky human rights protections in Egypt. The amendments, which still must be approved in a popular referendum, include an anti-terrorism clause that appears to enshrine sweeping police powers of arrest and surveillance. They would also allow the president to dissolve parliament unilaterally and weaken judicial oversight of elections that have been marred by complaints of widespread irregularities. "The constitutional majority needed for passage has been achieved," parliament speaker Fathi Sorour told parliament after 315 members of the 454-seat lower house of parliament cast votes in favour of the changes, while dozens boycotted the vote. Several hundred lawmakers, mostly from President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party, cheered and sang the national anthem after the amendments were passed in a late-night session. Some analysts say the changes are aimed at entrenching the ruling party's grip on power ahead of an ultimate leadership transition, possibly to Mubarak's son Gamal. Gamal has repeatedly denied presidential ambitions. The London-based rights group Amnesty International has called the amendments "the greatest erosion of human rights" since emergency laws were put in place in 1981 after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's strongest opposition force, is likely to be hardest hit by the amendments, which prohibit political activity based on religion and appear to quash the group's longstanding hopes for legal standing as a recognised political party. "We're now faced with a ragged constitution that is not fit to regulate relations between the authorities in Egypt," senior Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian told Reuters. He said the Brotherhood was still discussing whether it would boycott or take part in the referendum, expected in the next few weeks, although he supported a boycott. "I believe boycotting is the soundest option, because the results of referendums are always rigged." Nearly 100 mainly Islamist lawmakers boycotted the vote in parliament. The same lawmakers had walked out of parliament in two days of final debate on the amendments, starting on Sunday. Some political analysts say Egypt wants to stop the Brotherhood, whose members won 88 out of 454 parliament seats in 2005 running as independents, before it makes more electoral gains that could help it eventually mount a serious political challenge. Security forces arrested dozens of Brotherhood members in the days leading up to the parliament vote, cranking up a three-month crackdown that has seen the group's third-in-command Khairat el-Shatir arrested. He has been charged in a military court, together with 39 others, with money laundering and terrorism. Around 270 Brotherhood members are now in detention. (Additional reporting by Aziz El-Kaissouni and Mohamed Abdellah)
