BBC
Egypt crisis: Interim president to be sworn in after Morsi ousted
General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi makes the televised announcement
Army chief Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced the move in a TV address on Wednesday evening, in what Mr Morsi said was a military coup.
Gen Sisi said Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, had "failed to meet the demands of the people".
The move comes after days of mass rallies against the Islamist president.
His opponents celebrated through the night in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as the army announced it had suspended the constitution and pledged to hold new elections.
But clashes erupted overnight between Morsi supporters and the security forces in Cairo and Alexandria, leaving seven protestors dead. A further 10 deaths have been reported in confrontations in other parts of the country.
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, told the BBC the ousted leader had been put under house arrest and the "entire presidential team" was in detention.
The military's move against the Muslim Brotherhood was well planned. Intervention must have been in the mind of the army chief, Gen Sisi, for some time. Muslim Brotherhood activists were arrested. Islamist TV stations were taken off the air.
In the elections that followed the Arab uprisings of 2011,
the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and its offshoots across the region,
did extremely well. That was because it was well organised, with a
reputation for honesty, and took advantage of the failure of secular
parties to organise themselves.
But now the Egyptian army has inflicted a serious blow on the Muslim Brotherhood. One question is whether the Brotherhood will be forced back underground, as it was when it was banned in the years before 2011.
The Brotherhood foreswore violence many years ago. But there are jihadist groups in Egypt that have not. The army has calculated it can handle any trouble. But it is playing for high stakes - the future of Egypt.
But now the Egyptian army has inflicted a serious blow on the Muslim Brotherhood. One question is whether the Brotherhood will be forced back underground, as it was when it was banned in the years before 2011.
The Brotherhood foreswore violence many years ago. But there are jihadist groups in Egypt that have not. The army has calculated it can handle any trouble. But it is playing for high stakes - the future of Egypt.
Mr Haddad's father, senior Morsi
aide Essam el-Haddad, and Saad al-Katatni, head of the Brotherhood's
political wing, are among those held.
The state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported that arrest warrants had been issued for 300 leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
US President Barack Obama has said he is "deeply concerned" by the latest turn of events and called for a swift return to civilian rule.
'Do no respond'
The removal of the president followed four days of mass protests against Mr Morsi and an ultimatum issued by the military, which expired on Wednesday afternoon.
In his televised speech, Gen Sisi said the armed forces could ignore the call of the Egyptian masses. Protesters accused Mr Morsi and the Brotherhood of pursuing an Islamist agenda and failing to tackle Egypt's economic problems.
Gen Sisi spoke of a new roadmap for the future, and said Mr Mansour would be given the task of "running the country's affairs during the transitional period until the election of a new president".
Mr Mansour, currently chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, is scheduled to be sworn in as head of state at around 10:00 (08:00 GMT).
The army moved quickly after Gen Sisi's speech, with military vehicles seen fanning out across the capital.
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Egypt in crisis
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US backed Morsi government all along
The United
States has been supporting the government of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed
Morsi as well as al-Qaeda groups in the region, an American journalist
says.
“The U.S.
government, under direct orders from President [Barack] Obama, has been
supporting the Morsi government... and al-Qaeda linked networks all over the
region,” Lawrence Freeman, an editor at the Executive Intelligence Review
magazine said on Wednesday.
“We have taken a
position behind this government and this government has not helped move the
situation forwards in terms of the needs of the people,” he said.
Egypt's military
chief ousted President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday and dissolved the country's
constitution in a move aimed at resolving the country’s debilitating political
crisis.
During the
Egyptian demonstrations, anti-government protesters blasted Obama for supporting
Morsi after helping him take power following the 2011 revolution that ousted
Hosni Mubarak.
The
demonstrators say the Obama administration played a key role in manipulating the
revolution that toppled Mubarak. They held signs such as: “Wake up America,
Obama backs a fascist regime in Egypt,” and “Obama Supports Terrorism.”
About 500 U.S.
Marines were recently deployed to southern Europe and are positioned to respond
to the brewing chaos in Egypt.
Pentagon
spokesman George Little said the military was postured for response in Egypt.
“We have taken steps to ensure our military is ready to respond to a range of
contingencies,” he said.
The U.S. Embassy
in Cairo has been closed since Sunday, according to a notice posted on its
website.
AHT/HJ
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US orders diplomats to leave Egypt after military coup
Thu Jul 4, 2013 4:17AM
Protesters destroyed an American flag pulled down from the United States Embassy in Cairo on September 11, 2012.
The U.S. State
Department is ordering nonessential U.S. diplomats and the families of all
American Embassy personnel to leave Egypt following a military coup that removed
President Mohamed Morsi from power.
The State
Department has placed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on departure status, an American
official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
It is not clear
at this point whether an evacuation operation is under way and if embassy
personnel would use commercial airlines or passenger ships.
On Wednesday,
Egyptian military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted President Morsi and
suspended the country's constitution.
After days of
unrest and only hours before Morsi was removed from power, State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki finally spoke out to criticize Morsi for failing to
address the Egyptian people’s concerns.
Morsi has been
detained in a military facility along with a number of top aides, a senior
member of the Muslim Brotherhood said Thursday.
Army troops have
been deployed throughout the country to respond to clashes between Morsi’s
supporters and opponents.
The ouster of
Egypt’s first democratically elected president by a military coup could present
Washington with a dilemma and could affect the $1.3 billion U.S. annual military
aid to Egypt.
In an op-ed for
Foreign Policy magazine on Wednesday, Republican senator Ted Cruz called
Washington’s backing of Morsi “one of the most stunning diplomatic failures in
recent memory.”
The
United States has said hundreds of its crisis-response Marines in Europe were
positioned to deploy to Egypt.
HJ/HJ
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