Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — President Mohammed Morsi, in what comprised the second coup
since 2011, has been overthrown by Egypt’s military.

Egyptian sources said the military surrounded the home of Morsi and
leaders of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. They said the military, which gave
the president a 48-hour deadline to meet opposition demands, was preventing
Morsi and Brotherhood leaders Mohammed Badie and his deputy, Khairat Al
Shater, from leaving Egypt.

“He failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people,” Defense Minister Abdul Fatah Sisi said.

For his part, Morsi, who received telephone calls from U.S. President Barack Obama, said he would not resign. The president also called for the end to military intervention, which he said amounted to a coup.

“The people chose me in free and fair elections,” Morsi said.

In a television address on late July 3, Sisi confirmed that Morsi was overthrown after one year in office.

Sisi, appointed by Morsi to head the military in August 2012, declared the suspension of the constitution and named the head of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour, as interim president.

“The armed forces couldn’t plug its ears or close its eyes as the
movement and demands of the masses calling for them to play a national role,
not a political role as the armed forces themselves will be the first to
proclaim that they will stay away from politics,” Sisi said. “The speech of
the president last night, before the 48-hour deadline, did not achieve the
goals of the people.”

Later, Egypt’s state-owned media reported that the military was hunting
for Brotherhood leaders throughout Egypt. The media said the military issued
warrants for the arrest of at least 300 Brotherhood officials.

Morsi’s detention came after a deadline by the military for Morsi to
defuse the crisis with the opposition, which sparked bloody protests
throughout the country. The deadline, which expired on July 3 at 4:30 p.m.,
prompted military deployment around key facilities, including state
television.

The military coup, however, did not halt the violence. On late July 3,
at least 50 people were killed in clashes between opposition fighters and
those from the Brotherhood in the port city of Alexandria. On July 4, a
Brotherhood stronghold in Cairo came under unidentified gunfire, and four
people were killed in clashes in the western city of Marsa Matrouh.

  Abdul Fatah Sisi, Adli Mansour, Brotherhood leader Badie, Egypt military detains Morsi, Egypt’s military topples Morsi who got call from Obama, Mohammed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood