Report: Egypt's generals oust Morsy

[pinto]

Source: CNN

Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt's military deposed the country's first democratically elected president Wednesday night after he failed to meet demands to share power with opponents who thronged the streets of Cairo, state-run media reported.

Troops moved into key positions around the capital and surrounded a demonstration by Morsy's supporters in a Cairo suburb as a 48-hour ultimatum from the generals expired. Citing an unnamed presidential source, the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported that "the General Command of the Armed Forces told President Morsy around 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) that he is no longer a president for the republic."

The state-run Middle East News Agency reported Wednesday night that leaders of the country's Muslim and Christian communities would join military leaders and opposition figures to lay out an agreement "to exit the current political crisis."

The report came shortly after a deadline issued by the generals to Egypt's first democratically elected leader expired. At the final hour, Morsy offered to form an interim coalition government "that would manage the upcoming parliamentary electoral process, and the formation of an independent committee for constitutional amendments to submit to the upcoming parliament," Morsy said in a posting on his Facebook page.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/03/world/meast/egypt-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[maddezmom]

1. This is going to get tricky

If it was a coup, Egypt will lose aide $$$$.

[pinto]

2. Yeah. Lo called just now with the same point. I think the military is trying

to play it down, citing new elections.

[maddezmom]

5. On CNN they were saying if they can organize new elections say within

2 months or so, they could just suspend it. Either way this is going to be a nightmare for the Obama administration.

[gateley]

13. Yeah, Richard Engel just said the Military wasn't too fond of Obama because he (we)

worked with Morsi -- but what choice did we have? We have to work with whoever is in power, and he WAS democratically elected, so I don't see what else we could have done. I'm sure nobody in DC was thrilled with Morsi, but had to deal with it.

The Muslim Brotherhood kind of reminded me of the Republicans -- big money, great organization, and once in power reverted true to form.

I hope a true representative of the people gets into office this time.

The military is really interesting to observe -- it answers to no one, apparently.

[pinto]

3. Constitution "suspended". (nt)

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. Not good.

[gateley]

15. I'm not sure that Constitution was all that the people wanted, anyway.

Morsi pretty much did what he wanted (a la Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush).

This MIGHT work out well for the people. They certainly seem happy, anyway, and they understand what's going on better than we do.

[pinto]

16. Yeah, it's not a clear cut situation.

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Morsi role at Syria rally seen as tipping point for Egypt army

Army concern about the way President Mohamed Morsi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources have said.

At the June 15th rally, Sunni Muslim clerics used the word “infidels” to denounce both the Shias fighting to protect Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the non-Islamists that oppose Mr Morsi at home.

Mr Morsi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria against Mr Assad, leading to a veiled rebuke from the army, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day stressing that its only role was guarding Egypt’s borders.

“The armed forces were very alarmed by the Syrian conference at a time the state was going through a major political crisis,” said one officer, whose comments reflected remarks made privately by other army staff. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to the media.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/morsi-role-at-syria-rally-seen-as-tipping-point-for-egypt-army-1.1450612

[gateley]

18. That's interesting -- I wasn't aware of that.

[Comrade Grumpy]

33. I saw that yesterday. Very interesting. And I know who your namesake is.

I've been to his shrine in Culiacan.

[Jesus Malverde]

38. I'm jealous

I would like to visit the shrine myself.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Head of constitutional court, Mansour, is 'interim leader'

Here's a summary of what General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced:

• President Mohamed Morsi and his government no longer lead Egypt

• The constitution has been suspended and new presidential elections will be held

• The head of constitutional court, Adly Mahmoud, 68, will "temporarily" take over the presidential palace


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jul/03/egypt-countdown-army-deadline-live#block-51d47dcae4b06ee79885ed83

Pro-Morsi TV stations taken off the air.

[pinto]

11. Apparently the military has also taken active charge of print media.

Earlier blurb I heard this AM.

[Comrade Grumpy]

32. Mansour is a Mubarek-era judge. Meet the new boss...

[Gin]

8. Thought his name was Morsi not Morsy

[dipsydoodle]

9. Actually

its either Morsi or Mursi. Not quite sure why.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. It's all transliteration from Arabic

Like Russian, you can end up with more than one spelling. At least it's not as variable as Gaddafi was.

[Brother Buzz]

19. Morsi, Mursi, and Morsy are accepted spellings

Morsi and Mursi are used more often that Morsey, but it should be noted the Morsy spelling was just adopted by the White House yesterday.

July 2, 2013

Morsi Or Morsy? White House Embraces New Spelling For Egyptian President

Morsi or Morsy, that is the question.

Confusion reigns supreme today after White House embraced a new spelling of the President of Egypt’s last name this morning.

Until today, the White House utilized the spelling “Morsi” in its official documents, and that spelling can be found a total of 86 times on the White House website.

A readout provided by the White House today, however, featured the romanized “Morsy,” a spelling that has only been repeated since by CNN.

NYU Arabic language lecturer Medhat Credi explained to TRNS that Arabic transliteration to the Latin alphabet is a complicated affair, but he agree with the White House’s spelling.

“The name of the ex-president ending with a vowel, there is no need to use the letter /y/ to render the vowel /i/,” Credit said. “I would transliterate the name of the ex-president as follows: Mursi.”

As of press time, the White House has yet to offer an explanation for the new spelling.

http://www.talkradionews.com/white-house/2013/07/02/morsi-or-morsy-white-house-embraces-new-spelling-for-egyptian-leader.html

[The Stranger]

21. Morrisey?

[Brother Buzz]

23. Sure, why not

I'm a product of public schools

[ellenrr]

10. whoa - right now, protesters are dancing w/police.

via BBC world news

[ellenrr]

12. some sources:

updates; http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jul/03/egypt-countdown-army-deadline-live

Ahram online

if you're on Twitter can follow Shariff Koudous

rec. to me: jadaliyya.com
and merip

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

17. A suggestion for a new Egyptian constitution.

What a concept.

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

[struggle4progress]

20. Army Ousts Egypt’s President

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, BEN HUBBARD and ALAN COWELL
Published: July 3, 2013

CAIRO — Egypt’s military on Wednesday ousted Mohamed Morsi, the nation’s first freely elected president, suspending the Constitution, installing an interim government and insisting it was responding to the millions of Egyptians who had opposed the Islamist agenda of Mr. Morsi and his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood ...

Ahram Online, the government’s official English-language Web site, said the military had informed Mr. Morsi that he was no longer head of state. There was no word on Mr. Morsi’s whereabouts.

But in a statement e-mailed by his office, Mr. Morsi rejected the military’s intervention.

“Dr. Mohamed Morsi, the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, emphasizes that the measures taken by the General Command of the armed forces represent a complete military coup which is categorically rejected by all the free of the country who have struggled so that Egypt turns into a civil democratic society,” his statement said ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/world/middleeast/egypt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Sunlei]

22. Their Military runs that country anyway, at least the main economic side.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

24. A Military Coup d'état

not good

[maddezmom]

25. In addition to TV stations going off air, reports of arrests of some media crews

2m ago
In addition to television stations being taken off the air after Sisi's address, there are reports of arrests of some media crews. Al-Masri al-youm reports that the owners of TV stations have been detained.

Al Hafez, Al Nas & Misr 25 disappeared from the airwaves after Sisi's address. Mada Masdr has this report:

Abeer al-Saady a member of the Journalists’ Syndicate said that she received a call from Ahmed Abdel Gawad, a Misr 25 reporter, at 9.45 pm, not long after the end of Sisi’s speech.

“He told me that he and five other employees of the channel were in a police truck and being taken to an unknown location,” Abdel-Gawad said.

Zeyad Salem, a producer with the Baladna Bel Masry programme broadcast on the ONtv satellite channel said that police forces that have been stationed in the Media Production City in 6th of October that hosts the majority of Egyptian satellite channels stormed the studios of Misr 25 and other religious channels.

Salem said that Misr 25 presenter Nour Eddin Abdel Hafez, popularly known as Khamees, had been arrested.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jul/03/egypt-countdown-army-deadline-live

[WCLinolVir]

26. Human Rights Watch says mobs "assaulted and in some cases raped at least 91 women" in Cairo's Tahrir

Per Al Jezeera. Just horrible.

[East Coast Pirate]

27. The Muslim Brotherhood isn't going to be happy about this.

I wonder if they will stage violent riots? How will they have elections and keep fundy Muslims out of power?

[Comrade Grumpy]

28. By law, the US must cut foreign aid to any country that undergoes a coup.

This is the textbook definition of a military coup, even if it had popular support. The military deposed the duly elected leader of the country.

[maddezmom]

29. Comment of Sen. Leahy Chairman of the Budget Committe for the State Dept & Foreign Assistance

PRESS RELEASE
July 3, 2013, 5:38 p.m. EDT
Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt., Chairman of the Budget Committee for the State Department and Foreign Assistance) on the Military Takeover in Egypt

BURLINGTON, Vt., July 3, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- "The Morsi government has been a great disappointment to the people of Egypt, and to all who wish Egypt a successful transition to responsive, representative government under the rule of law. He squandered an historic opportunity, preferring to govern by fiat rather than work with other political parties to do what is best for all Egyptians. Egypt's military leaders say they have no intent or desire to govern, and I hope they make good on their promise. In the meantime, our law is clear: U.S. aid is cut off when a democratically elected government is deposed by military coup or decree. As we work on the new budget, my committee also will review future aid to the Egyptian government as we wait for a clearer picture. As the world's oldest democracy, this is a time to reaffirm our commitment to the principle that transfers of power should be by the ballot, not by force of arms."

[Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairs the budget committee for the State Department and foreign aid - the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations. He is the author of the new conditions on U.S. military aid to Egypt, enacted last year. Sec. Clinton and Sec. Kerry earlier used their authority to waive the Leahy conditions. To see the other provisions that relate to the situation in Egypt, in current law - the Fiscal Year 2012 State Department And Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, which was handled by the Leahy-led panel -- go to THIS LINK on the Leahy website: http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/provisions-relevant-to-the-situation-in-egypt-in-the-fy12-state-department-and-foreign-operations-appropriations-law_-- ]

SOURCE Office of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy

[joshcryer]

30. Will we see a coup counter-protest?

Or are the pro-MB / pro-Morsi elements simply clowns who don't actually support the guy they voted for by clear and unambiguous majority?

[Jessy169]

31. Karl Rove says there's still time for Morsi to pull ahead, that it all comes down to crucial Waukesh

Stole that one from DailyKos...

[arewenotdemo]

34. I am ecstatic that the "tipping point" for the Army came when

Morsi attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria.

At the June 15 rally, Sunni Muslim clerics used the word “infidels” to denounce both the Shi'ites fighting to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the non-Islamists that oppose Morsi at home.

Morsi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria against Assad, leading to a veiled rebuke from the army, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day stressing that its only role was guarding Egypt's borders.

http://www.voanews.com/content/egypt-army-says-morsi-role-at-syria-rally-seen-as-turning-point/1693911.html

[joshcryer]

35. Wow, that's a bombshell right there.

All the Morsi supporters must be having a serious conflict of internal reasoning on that one.

On one hand they tend to hate the radical elements in Syria.

On the other hand they support Morsi for being democratically elected (and have seemingly no problem with his overreaching and exclusion ideology).

[roamer65]

36. Good riddance to religious garbage.

Any time a secular military removes a religious zealot from office, it's a good thing.

[YOHABLO]

37. Why the hell didn't we hit the streets during Bush v Gore? Tell me why Americans are so lazy.