Egypt could become an Islamist state or face another military takeover if President Mohamed Morsi's judicial power grab is left unchecked, U.S. Senator John McCain warned Sunday.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, urged President Barack Obama to be prepared to use billions of dollars of American aid as leverage to force Egypt's first Islamist leader to change course.

Egyptian journalists called on Sunday for a general strike to protest guarantees of press freedom in a draft constitution, amid a political crisis sparked by decree by President Mohamed Morsi granting himself sweeping powers.

They called for the strike during an emergency meeting of the Journalists Syndicate but have yet to set a date, attendants told Agence France Presse.

One person was killed and at least 40 others were wounded in clashes Sunday between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in the Nile Delta, south of Egypt's second city Alexandria, amid a show of strength on the streets between the two rival camps.

"Islam Fathi Mohammed was killed" in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in the town of Damanhour, one of the movement's leaders, Jamal Hichmat, told Agence France Presse.

Share prices on the Egypt Exchange declined almost 9.5 percent by midday (1000 GMT) on Sunday, after President Mohamed Morsi assumed sweeping powers that sparked clashes and polarized the country's politics.

The main EGX-30 index shed 9.49 percent to reach 4,923.19 points, according to the Egyptian Exchange.

Defiant Egyptian judges hit back at President Mohamed Morsi on Saturday, demanding he reverse a decree giving himself sweeping powers that put him beyond judicial oversight and calling for a nationwide strike.

Egypt's Judges Club, a body that represents judges throughout the country, called for "the suspension of work in all courts and prosecution administrations," after several hours of emergency talks in response to what they called Morsi's "ferocious attack on Egyptian justice."

Anti-riot police fired tear gas on Saturday to disperse protesters camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square as Western governments voiced growing concern over Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's assumption of sweeping powers.

A hard core of opposition activists had spent the night in the iconic protest hub -- epicenter of the popular uprising that toppled veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak last year -- erecting some 30 tents, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi has assumed temporary sweeping powers that supporters say will cut back a turbulent and seemingly endless transition to democracy, but outraged critics say he has now become a dictator.

His mostly liberal opposition, already roiling over an Islamist-dominated constituent assembly preparing a new charter, called for protests after Morsi assumed his new powers in a surprise announcement on Thursday.

The United States said on Friday that the assumption of sweeping powers by Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi was a matter of concern, amid a new round of protests in the country.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, in a statement.

France on Friday raised concerns Egypt was not moving in the "right direction" after President Mohamed Morsi assumed sweeping powers decried by the opposition.

"After decades of dictatorship... the political and democratic transition cannot take place in a few weeks or a few months.

The European Union on Friday urged Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to respect the democratic process after he assumed sweeping powers decried by the opposition as dictatorial.

"It is of utmost importance that democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.