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Obama and Clinton can get ready to break out the champagne! The Muslim Brotherhood's takeover is almost complete.
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CAIRO (VOA) — Egypt's new President
Mohamed Morsi has forced out the country's top two military officers,
announcing the immediate retirement of Defense Minister Mohammed
Hussein Tantawi and Army Chief of Staff Sami Annan. The move comes after
growing tensions over military operations in the northern Sinai,
following a recent attack by militants that killed 17 Egyptian soldiers.
News that President Morsi had fired Defense Minister Tantawi and Army
Chief of Staff Annan struck on a quiet summer afternoon as most
Egyptians fasted for Ramadan.
The president's spokesman, Yasser Ali, announced replacements for the
two top officers on state television. He said Morsi was also annulling
constitutional amendments that gave military commanders sweeping powers.
He said the president has named Mahmoud Mekki as his vice president,
that he is ordering Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi to
retire, along with Army Chief of Staff Sami Annan.
Morsi was shown on state TV swearing in his new Defense Minister, Abdel Fattah al Sissi.
The new defense minister said he swears to protect the nation and its
presidential system and to respect the constitution and the law, to
defend the people's interests and the borders of the country.
It was not immediately clear if the president's decision would provoke
a constitutional crisis. Field Marshall Tantawi and top generals of the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had given themselves powers before
the presidential election that some analysts compared to a
“check-and-balance” system.
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