Supporters of Egyptian president say military coup is underway
Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP - Getty Images
Clashes
broke out near Cairo University on Wednesday as the power struggle
between Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the country's armed forces
raised fears of civil war.
By Richard Engel, Charlene Gubash and Erin McClam, NBC News
CAIRO
— An adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said Wednesday that a
military coup was underway, that tanks were on the move outside Cairo
and that communication with the president had been cut off.
As a
military deadline came and went for Morsi to step aside, the army took
control of state television, and boisterous crowds opposed to the regime
cheered and danced in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital.
The
president’s whereabouts were not clear. The Morsi adviser, Jihad Haddad,
told NBC News that he could not confirm or dney whether Morsi had moved
from Republican Guard headquarters. Representatives of the Muslim
Brotherhood, which supports Morsi, said that some of its leaders had
been rounded up and arrested.
Earlier in the day, both the president and the military had sworn a
fight to the death. The military leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said
it would be an honor to die rather than subject the Egyptian people to
threats or terror.
In something of a call to arms, the military
posted on Facebook: “We swear to God to sacrifice with our blood for
Egypt and its people against any terrorist, extremist or ignoramus. Long
live Egypt and its proud people.”
The government said at least 16
people had been killed and about 200 injured in clashes with security
forces at Cairo University.
Egypt elected Morsi one year ago after
throwing out Hosni Mubarak, the autocrat who led the country for three
decades. But Egyptians have been frustrated by a weak economy, poor
services and what they see as a power grab by the Morsi government.
Violent
clashes continue in Cairo where demonstrators are protesting against
Mohammed Morsi's presidency. Morsi is declaring he'd rather die than
forfeit his post as the Egyptian army threatens to remove him by force.
NBC's Richard Engel reports.
The military was believed to
have given Morsi until 5 p.m. local time, or 11 a.m. ET, to meet the
demands of the protesters. The precise time was not clear. The
ultimatum, issued Monday, has been denounced by supporters of Morsi as a
military coup.
Hours ahead of the deadline, civilian political
leaders were summoned to meet with the top generals. Those civilian
leaders included Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear
weapons agency and a critic of Morsi.
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Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi under house arrest - Al Hayat TV
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Mohammed Morsi is seen in this undated file photo.
(KABC Photo)
CAIRO (KABC) --
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is reportedly under house arrest after
the military ultimatum expired Wednesday, reports Al Hayat TV.
Morsi's spokesman denied the report, according to ABC News, but word of the house arrest provoked cheers in Tahrir Square.
This comes as Egypt's military moved to tighten its control on key institutions before their afternoon ultimatum expired.
The
military stationed officers in the newsroom of state television on the
banks of the Nile River in central Cairo. Troops were deployed in
news-production areas.
Officers from the army's media department
moved inside the newsroom and were monitoring output, though not yet
interfering, staffers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to talk about the arrangements.
This
move shows the military's preparation for an almost certain push to
remove the country's Islamist president when an afternoon ultimatum
expires.
Earlier Wednesday, Egyptian leaders met with the army
chief. This meeting also signaled the military was taking concrete moves
toward implementing its plan to replace Morsi, Egypt's first freely
elected leader who came to office a year ago.
The clock is
ticking and no one is really sure exactly what will happen when the
deadline is reached. It was imposed by Egypt's military Tuesday after
massive demonstrations in the nation's capitol and it will be reached at
7 a.m. - 8 a.m. PT.
Under a plan leaked to state media, the
military would install a new interim leadership, the Islamist-backed
constitution suspended and the Islamist-dominated parliament dissolved.
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Egyptian army takes over state TV as military, opposition heads meet
Mohamed
ElBaradei and Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi powwow with the top Muslim
cleric of Al-Azhar Mosque and the Coptic pope as deadline on ultimatum
nears
Egypt’s leading democracy
advocate, Mohamed ElBaradei, and top Muslim and Coptic Christian clerics
met Wednesday with the army chief to discuss a political road map for
Egypt only hours before a military ultimatum to the Islamist president
was set to expire.
The meeting signaled the military was
taking concrete moves toward implementing its plan to replace President
Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader who came to office a
year ago.
Morsi has
vowed not to step down in the face of three days of massive street
demonstrations calling for his ouster. At least 39 people have died
since the protests began on Sunday.
ElBaradei is the leader of the main opposition
grouping, the National Salvation Front. He was accompanied in the
meeting with army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi by Sheik Ahmed
el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, and Pope Tawadros II, patriarch
of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.
Under a plan leaked to state media, the
military would install a new interim leadership, the Islamist-backed
constitution would be suspended and the Islamist-dominated parliament
dissolved.
The military has said it would implement its
plan once its two-day ultimatum to Morsi expires, between 4 p.m. and 5
p.m. Egypt time (5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Israel time).
In one of the first signs that the army was
beginning to implement its ultimatum, forces had taken over the state
television studios in Cairo, al-Arabiya reported early afternoon
Wednesday.
Overnight clashes between President Mohammed Morsi’s supporters and opponents left at least 23 dead, most of them in a single incident of fighting outside Cairo University.
With his
political fate hanging in the balance, Morsi on Tuesday demanded that
the powerful armed forces withdraw their ultimatum, saying he rejected
all “dictates” — from home or abroad.
Egyptian
President Mohammed Morsi addresses the nation in a televised speech on
Tuesday. (photo credit: AP Photo/Egyptian State Television)
In an emotional speech aired live to the
nation, Morsi, who a year ago was inaugurated as Egypt’s first freely
elected president, pledged to protect his “constitutional legitimacy”
with his life. He accused loyalists of his ousted autocratic predecessor
Hosni Mubarak of exploiting the wave of protests to topple his regime
and thwart democracy. He said he was willing to “sacrifice my own blood”
for the security and legitimacy of his government and his country.
“There is no substitute for legitimacy,” said
Morsi, who at times angrily raised his voice, thrust his fist in the air
and pounded the podium. He warned that electoral and constitutional
legitimacy “is the only guarantee against violence.”
“I have no other option. I have shouldered the
responsibility. I will continue shouldering the responsibility,” he
said as millions were still gathered in Cairo’s historic Tahrir Square
calling for his exit.
The Egyptian president, a member of the Muslim
Brotherhood who was inaugurated on June 30, 2012 after winning Egypt’s
first elections, said he wouldn’t allow the revolution to be hijacked by
Mubarak-era supporters. Earlier Tuesday, the former Egyptian president
reportedly called on Morsi to step down.
Morsi said he would stand up against “any who
attempt to shed a drop of blood, drive a wedge between the people or act
in violence… I will adhere to this legitimacy and I will stand guardian
to this legitimacy.
“The price can be my life. My own life. I am
willing to safeguard and protect your lives,” he said. “I send a
message, a message of love and a message of appreciation to all the
people of Egypt, no matter what their positions are.”
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