US News

Egyptians celebrate as army coup ousts President Mohammed Morsi in coup

After a week of anti-government protests by millions of Egyptians, the army last night ousted the nation’s first democratically elected president, a dramatic move that turned Cairo from a bloody battleground to a jubilant street party.

Mohammed Morsi was placed under house arrest at the Presidential Republican Guards Club where he had been living. He and his Muslim Brotherhood denounced the “illegal military coup,” but liberal foes called it a relaunch of the Arab Spring revolt of 2011.

“It is a full-fledged coup and it is turning into a bloody one, too,” said Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood.

He added that 12 of Morsi’s aides were also under house arrest at the facility.

“They are arresting everybody,” el-Haddad said.

Thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square greeted news of the coup with chants of “Long live Egypt,” “God is Great” and “The people and the army are one hand.”

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who had clashed with their rivals earlier in the day in fighting that killed 23 people, countered at rallies with chants of “Down with the rule of the military.”

At least 14 people were killed in the first hours after Morsi was overthrown, Reuters reported.

Fireworks erupted over Tahrir Square — the ground zero of the 2011 revolt — as joyful protesters cheered the announcement on state TV by Morsi’s own defense minister that Morsi’s tumultuous, yearlong reign had ended.

Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the beleaguered nation that the brotherhood’s Islamist-drafted constitution was suspended and that the head of Egypt’s constitutional court, Adly Mansour, would lead a nonpartisan “technocratic” government until new elections are held.

“The armed forces sensed . . . that the people sought their support, not power or rule, but for general services and necessary protection,” Sisi said.

Other military leaders said they would swear in Mansour, 67, today. The virtually unknown father of three was named by Morsi to Egypt’s top judicial post in May.

President Obama said he was monitoring the situation and was “very concerned” about the future of a vital US ally.

In a statement, Obama stopped short of referring to Morsi’s ouster a “coup,” but called on the country’s military to move “quickly and responsibly” to return rule to a democratic and civilian government.

American officials said the Egyptian military had vowed — in calls with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — to put a civilian government back in place.

Nevertheless, the United States is preparing for a possible bloodbath: Non-essential US diplomats and embassy personnel were ordered to leave the country, officials said last night.

Also, 18 US students in an Arabic-language program run by the nonprofit American Councils for International Education were being evacuated.

Just before Sisi’s announcement, the military slapped a travel ban on Morsi and his supporters, prohibiting them from flying out of the country.

The military later arrested the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Saad el-Katatni, and the brotherhood’s deputy chief, Rashad Bayoumi, officials said.

Morsi and his aides were being “preventively” held for his “threatening rhetoric” in case he faces charges by his opponents, a senior army official said.

“He succeeded in creating enmity between Egyptians,” the official said.

To many Egyptians, the past week has been a replay of the anti-government demonstrations of January and February 2011, which despotic President Hosni Mubarak tried to crush with his security forces.

Mubarak was eased out of power by the military, which presided over a strained transition period in which Islamist parties battled liberals for control.

Morsi won the presidency and pushed through an Islamic constitution in Egypt’s first democratic elections.

But he lost the support of ordinary Egyptians as he refused to share power and couldn’t solve the country’s severe economic crisis.

“We ousted one dictator and now we’ve ousted a second one,” said Adal El-Bendary, 45, sitting at a cafe near Tahrir Square yesterday. “We’ll do it again, if necessary. We are experienced now.”

Morsi had tried to hold onto power in a desperate speech Tuesday night in which he repeatedly used the word “legitimacy” to make the case that he had been democratically elected.

That failed to sway the powerful and popular Egyptian armed forces.

“The president’s speech last night failed to meet and conform with the demands” of the people, Sisi said.

That forced the military to consult “with some of the symbols of the national forces and the youths without excluding anyone,” he added.

Sisi spoke while flanked by the country’s top Muslim and Christian clerics, as well as pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei and two representatives of the youth opposition movement behind the wave of protests.

During the day, Sisi met with ElBaradei as well as Egypt’s top Muslim cleric, Al-Azhar Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, and Coptic Pope Tawadros II, and even members of the ultraconservative Salafi movement in an apparent bid to build a consensus in favor of a “road map.” The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted the session.

But Sisi’s announcement left many questions unanswered, including what the role of the military would be and what would become of Morsi. In theory, he might be able to run again for president in the new elections.

The military prepared for its move by stationing troops in key parts of Cairo before last night’s announcement. Security forces took control of the bridge leading to Cairo University, where 23 people died in clashes earlier in the day.

Also, the brotherhood’s television station was taken off the air and its managers were arrested hours after Morsi was ousted.

But Morsi got his message out on YouTube. He posted a 21-minute video that said the “full coup” was “categorically rejected by all free men of our nation.”

“Whoever planned this wants to spill the blood of the Egyptian people,” he said.

The crisis posed a major problem for the Obama administration, which helped ease Mubarak out of power and is widely seen as responsible for making the transition to democracy work.

There is also a difficult legal question now facing Washington. Egypt, the largest Arab nation, receives $1.5 billion in US aid each year. But under US law, if Morsi’s removal is determined to be an unconstitutional coup, the Obama administration would be forced to suspend that aid.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, said last night, “Egypt’s military leaders say they have no intent or desire to govern, and I hope they make good on their promise.”

Obama said he has called upon relevant government agencies to review US aid to Egypt.

Asked whether the Egyptian army had the legitimacy to remove Morsi from power, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We’re not taking sides in this.”With