Posted on 08/12/2012 10:23:56 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Powerful head of armed forces and chief of army staff dismissed and top commanders retired in shock announcement.
The Egyptian president has ordered the powerful head of the army and defence minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, into retirement and cancelled constitutional amendments issued by the military restricting presidential powers.
Mohamed Morsi announced through a spokesman on Sunday the dismissal of Tantawi and his appointment as a presidential adviser.
According to state television, Abdul-Fatah al-Sessi would replace Tantawi as defence minister and the general commander of the army.
Morsi also sent into retirement the chief of army staff, Sami Anan, and appointed him as a presidential adviser.
Lieutenant-General Sidki Sayed Ahmed was named as Anan's replacement.
Morsi further appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice-president. All decisions are effective immediately.
The latest moves are seen as escalating the power struggle between Morsi, who took office on June 30, and the military.
Tantawi was the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled the country after Hosni Mubarak was toppled as president in February 2011.
He was defence minister for nearly two decades under Mubarak.
Brotherhood-military tensions
Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood, and his Islamist allies did not hide their displeasure with the amendments issued by the military in mid-June curtailing the president's role and granting the army massive powers, including legislative control.
Earlier this week, Morsi sacked the head of the intelligence service.
Besides Tantawi and Anan, Morsi also ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defence and air force.
The retired navy commander, Lieutenant-General Mohan Mameesh, was named as chairman of the Suez Canal, the strategic waterway linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and a major source of revenues for the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at aljazeera.com ...
Ruh Roh!
Civil war is coming to Egypt!
May Allah turn you eyes into pork sausages. I was about to post the same thing.
Imagine that!
Next thing you know they’ll say they have to reoccupy the Sinai Peninsula to ensure that Israel is properly protected from themselves.
But will he stay fired?
All the other army officers who built their careers under Mubarak have to know they’re next on the list.
I’m kind of surprised by the timing on this. Usually the new guy takes a year or two to solidify his support before launching direct attacks on the power structure of the previous regime. Interesting to see how it turns out.
It should be remembered that in some of these countries the military is the closest thing around to being “the good guys,” from our POV. Sad but true.
Also didn't Joe Biden foreign policy expert bar none told us the MB is a legitimate entity
10th largest military in the world. More than 1100 Abrams tanks and over 200 F-16s. If civil war does come to Egypt? It won’t be pretty...
Defense, with an S, not a C.
It’s Aljazeera. Misspelling words is what they do...
Nope . . . more like heading towards “I’ve just received word that the President has dismantled the old guard completely. The last remnants of the Mubarak regime have been swept away.”
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