Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
Fireworks light up the sky as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir square on July 3, 2013 in Cairo/AFP

Africa

Egypt President Morsi detained after ouster

His year in power was marked by a spiralling economic crisis, shortages in fuel and often deadly opposition protests.

The embattled 61-year-old had proposed a “consensus government” as a way out of the crisis, the worst since the 2011 uprising that ended three decades of authoritarian rule by Hosni Mubarak.

But it failed to satisfy his critics and the army stepped in.

Its commander named the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly al-Mansour, as interim leader of the Arab world’s most populous country.

Mansour, a hitherto little known judge, is expected to be sworn in on Thursday.

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, sat beside army chief Sisi as he announced on state television that Morsi’s rule was over.

So too did the heads of the Coptic Church and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning.

The choreography was designed to show broad civilian support for the military’s move against Morsi.

Already, the security forces have shut down broadcasts from a Muslim Brotherhood television channel, a Morsi aide told AFP.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Staff of Al-Jazeera’s Egyptian affiliate were also arrested after the channel aired a defiant speech by the deposed president, the station reported.

Dozens of armoured personnel carriers headed towards Islamist gatherings around Cairo to head off trouble.

But in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the security forces looked on as tens of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters celebrated, dwarfing the pro-Morsi rally in Nasr City, on the other side of the capital.

The crowd swelled at nightfall, after a scorching day that saw police officers hand out water to the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, epicentre of the 2011 uprising.

About The Author

Pages: 1 2 3

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News