So, Egypt’s doing the whole revolution thing again.
In a televised address, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, announced that the Egyptian military has removed President Morsi from office and suspended the nation’s constitution. The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, will assume presidential authority until a long-term solution is devised.
This move follows four days of anti-Morsi protests. General Sisi said that the Egyptian army could not ignore the will of the people and opted to take action to oust the president, who had been in power for about a year since elections following the “Arab Spring” ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak. Following his address, Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Church, and Mohammed ElBaradei, a leader of the anti-Morsi movement, made short televised speeches concerning Egypt’s “roadmap” to political stability.
Egyptian army units are said to be moving in on the University of Giza, where some of the principal pro-Morsi demonstrators have been amassing during the recent unrest.
Among the major complaints against Morsi had been that, as president, he did more to represent his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, than the people of Egypt.
Shortly after General Sisi’s speech, TV outlets run by the Muslim Brotherhood were taken off the air. The BBC reports that shortly after the speech, a message appeared on Morsi’s Facebook page denouncing the military actions as a “coup.” Morsi’s current location is unclear.
Senator Patrick Leahy has announced that the US would be suspending all aid to Egypt in the wake of today’s events:
sen leahy says US law is clear "aid is cut off when a democratically elected government is deposed by military coup or decree." #egypt
— susannah george (@sgeorgenpr) July 3, 2013