Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi (c) gestures, while Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi (l) and an army general look on at a checkpoint in al-Arish (Photo: Reuters – Egyptian Presidency)
President Mohammed Mursi also appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice president.
The decisions announced on Sunday are effective immediately.
Spokesman Yasser Ali said in a news conference aired on state TV that Mursi had appointed a new defense minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
He replaces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who headed the military council that ruled Egypt for 17 months after Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising in February 2011.
Tantawi was defense minister for nearly two decades under Mubarak but was much despised in Egypt.
The military council's second in command, Chief of Staff Sami Annan, was also ordered to retire.
A general told Reuters that the decisions had been made in consultation with Tantawi.
"The decision was based on consultation with the field marshal and the rest of the military council," General Mohamed el-Assar told Reuters.
Mursi also scrapped an interim constitutional declaration issued before he was sworn in that ruled the president could not rule on matters related to the military - including appointing its leaders.
In sweeping changes, he also ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defense and air force.
The retired navy commander, Lt. Gen. 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.
The move will be seen as a major moment in the battle for power between the Muslim Brotherhood from which Mursi came and the army, which remains among the most well-organized bodies in the country.
(Al-Akhbar, AP)
The decisions announced on Sunday are effective immediately.
Spokesman Yasser Ali said in a news conference aired on state TV that Mursi had appointed a new defense minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
He replaces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who headed the military council that ruled Egypt for 17 months after Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising in February 2011.
Tantawi was defense minister for nearly two decades under Mubarak but was much despised in Egypt.
The military council's second in command, Chief of Staff Sami Annan, was also ordered to retire.
A general told Reuters that the decisions had been made in consultation with Tantawi.
"The decision was based on consultation with the field marshal and the rest of the military council," General Mohamed el-Assar told Reuters.
Mursi also scrapped an interim constitutional declaration issued before he was sworn in that ruled the president could not rule on matters related to the military - including appointing its leaders.
In sweeping changes, he also ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defense and air force.
The retired navy commander, Lt. Gen. 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.
The move will be seen as a major moment in the battle for power between the Muslim Brotherhood from which Mursi came and the army, which remains among the most well-organized bodies in the country.
(Al-Akhbar, AP)
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DEBKAfile considered Mursi's move as an anti-army coup in Cairo. Tanks move up to Israel border
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| President Morsi with army chief Field Marshal Tantawi in Sinai |
Two months after assuming the presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood’s President Mohamed Morsi swept away the powerful pro-American Supreme Military Council heads ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.
Sunday. Aug. 12, he fired the Egyptian Defense Minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Hafez Sami Annan and three more generals and appointed Field Marshall Abd al-Fatah Sissi defense minister and Gen. Sidki Sobhi chief of staff in their place.
The three generals also sacked were Air Force chief Rezza Abd al-Megid, Navy commander Mahab Muhamed Mamish and Air Defense chief Abd Al-Aziz Muhamed Seif.
President Morsi also annulled the law amendments endowing the military with broad powers.
The three generals also sacked were Air Force chief Rezza Abd al-Megid, Navy commander Mahab Muhamed Mamish and Air Defense chief Abd Al-Aziz Muhamed Seif.
President Morsi also annulled the law amendments endowing the military with broad powers.
debkafile reports: Field Marshal Tantawi and Gen. Annan were regarded as the last major impediments to the Muslim Brotherhood’s complete takeover of Egypt. Morsi’s action has cast Egypt’s military caste out into uncertain territory with regard to its future status in government.
Morsi’s actions in the last month have aroused serious concern in the United States and Israel. His coup Sunday will give them more unsavory food for thought. They will not have missed the sudden arrival of Egyptian army M-60 tanks (made in the US) right up to the Israeli border of Sinai while the new appointments were announced in Cairo.It is still not yet clear whether the Israeli government and army were caught off guard or gave permission for this extreme exception to the demilitarized clauses of their 1979 peace treaty. However, last week, the Egyptian president said that treaty clauses not deemed beneficial to Egyptian interests by the new regime would have to go. Israel did not respond to this statement.
In another new departure, he appointed a former senior judge Mohamed Mahmud Makki vice president, a new office in Egyptian government.
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government.
debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attack in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government. A faster worker, Morsi has achieved this in exactly seven days.
Morsi orders Tantawi’s retirement
In dramatic move, Egypt’s new president sacks man who served as Mubarak’s defense minister for over two decades, cancels military declared constitutional amendments
Roi Kais and AP
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Major jolt to Egypt’s political echelons: A government spokesman said Sunday that Egypt’s president has ordered the defense minister and chief of staff to retire and has canceled the military-declared constitutional amendments that gave top generals wide powers.
President Mohammed Morsi also ordered the retirement of Egyptian Air Defense Commander Lt. General Abd El Aziz Seif-Eldeen, and Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Mohab Mamish. In addition, Morsi appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice president.
Related stories:
The decisions announced Sunday are effective immediately. Spokesman Yasser Ali said in a news conference aired on state TV that Morsi appointed a new defense minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
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| Morsi with Tantawi (Photo: EPA) |
The military council’s No. 2, Chief of Staff Sami Annan, was also ordered to retire.
The surprise moves comes less than a week after Morsi appointed a new national intelligence chief and dismissed the governor of the increasingly lawless north Sinai region after gunmen killed 16 border guards there.
Morsi also fired the commander of the presidential guards and named new chiefs for security in Cairo and the police’s large central security, a large paramilitary force often deployed to deal with riots.
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