Egypt army chief defends ousting Morsi
Egypt’s military chief has tried to justify his decision to remove Mohammed Morsi from office, saying the Islamist leader had violated his popular mandate.
The comments by General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi – his first since the president was ousted nearly two weeks ago – came as the designated interim prime minister pushed ahead with talks to form a new Cabinet this week.
Reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as Egypt’s interim vice president for international relations yesterday.
The move reinforces the role of liberals in the new leadership who are strongly opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The US sent its second most senior diplomat in the State Department, William Burns, to Cairo to meet interim government officials as well as business leaders during a two-day visit.
He is the first high-level American official to visit since Mr Morsi was ousted.
Many in the international community fear the removal of Mr Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, will undermine Egypt’s transition to democracy.
The State Department said Mr Burns would underline US support for the Egyptian people and a transition leading to an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government.
The US has called for Mr Morsi’s release. Since he was forced out, he has been held at a secret location.
Gen El-Sissi said the armed forces acted to remove Mr Morsi on July 3 according to the will of the people as the country was sliding toward deeper division and more violence.
The Islamist leader was the first democratically chosen leader after a narrow victory in elections last year.
“The armed forces sincerely accepted the choice of the people, but then political decision-making began stumbling,” the general said.
“The armed forces remained committed to what it considered the legitimacy of the ballot box, even though that very legitimacy began to do as it pleased and in a way that contradicted the basis and the origin of this legitimacy.”
Mr Morsi’s election came after months of turmoil following the 2011 revolution that removed autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak from office.
Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the military had no right to act on behalf of the people of Egypt except through “orders of their elected commander in chief,” meaning Mr Morsi.
Egypt’s new chief prosecutor froze the assets of Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and at least 13 other senior members of the group pending investigations into deadly violence outside the organisation’s headquarters in Cairo and the Republic Guard forces club.
