CAIRO — A year after coming to office, Egypt’s first democratically elected president was swept aside by the military leaders who long presided over this country and proved Wednesday in a series of extraordinary maneuvers that they never really left. President Mohamed Morsi’s dramatic fall from power came after months of political turmoil and days of tense protests, as millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for his exit. Those protesters were jubilant Wednesday night, celebrating the ouster of a leader they viewed as both autocratic and incompetent.But Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters were irate, and Morsi himself was adamant that he remained the nation’s president. Aides said early Thursday that he was under house arrest as security forces rounded up at least a dozen top Muslim Brotherhood leaders, shuttered three television stations and surrounded Islamist demonstrators. Troops and tanks fanned out across Cairo, as clashes erupted in several cities. Although the generals promised fresh elections, they gave no timetable. For now, Morsi’s ouster underscores the elusiveness of democracy in the Arab world’s largest country, about 21 / 2 years after another popular uprising prompted Egypt’s military to end the three-decade reign of Hosni Mubarak. -- WashingtonPost
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:02:08 +0000