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Egypt: Adly Mansour sworn in as interim president | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Adli Mansour, Egypt’s chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, speaks at his swearing in ceremony as the nation’s interim president in Cairo July 4, 2013, a day after the army ousted Mohamed Mursi as head of state. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)


Adli Mansour, Egypt's chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, speaks at his swearing in ceremony as the nation's interim president in Cairo July 4, 2013, a day after the army ousted Mohamed Mursi as head of state. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Adli Mansour, Egypt’s chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, speaks at his swearing in ceremony as the nation’s interim president in Cairo July 4, 2013, a day after the army ousted Mohamed Mursi as head of state. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Chief Justice Adly Mansour was sworn in as Egyptian interim president on Thursday morning, just hours after the military—backed by a broad cross-section of Egypt’s political and religious leadership—announced Mohamed Mursi’s ouster.

Head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly took the presidential oath of office, stating: “I swear by God to uphold the Republican system and respect the constitution and law…and safeguard the people and protect the nation.”

The interim president gave a short speech following the oath, praising the Egyptian military, political forces, and people.

“The revolutionaries of Egypt are everywhere and we salute them all, those who prove to the world that they are strong enough, the brave youth of Egypt, who were the leaders of this revolution,” he said.

He hailed the youth behind the June 30 protests, saying that they embody “the nation’s conscience, its ambitions, and hopes.”

“The most glorious thing about June 30 is that it brought together everyone without discrimination or division,” he added.

Interim president Mansour also saluted the Egyptian armed forces to strong applause from those attending the oath of office ceremony.

“I salute the valiant armed forces that have forever been the conscience of the nation and the guarantor of its security and safety. The armed forces have always responded to the will of the people,” Adly Mansour stressed.

Egypt’s new president was born in Cairo in 1945; he received a license to practice law from Cairo University in 1967 and joined the state council in 1970. He rose through the ranks of this organization until he was appointed deputy president of the constitutional court in 1992. Mansour was only appointed as president of the court in May 2013, officially taking up his post on 1 July.

Egypt’s new head of state also said that the Muslim Brotherhood were a part of the Egyptian people and were welcome to help “build the nation.”

However other reports indicate that the Egyptian army has cracked down strongly against the Brotherhood leadership, arresting senior leaders and shutting down media apparatus.

Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi is reportedly being detained in an unspecified location by the Egyptian military.

Speaking late yesterday evening, Mursi described the situation as a military coup, stressing that he remains Egypt’s only legitimate president and commander-in-chief.

Mohamed Mursi was ousted from power after just over one year in office following days of nation-wide protests against his rule, which had been characterized by political crises and social division.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, sent a cable of congratulations to the new Egyptian president on Thursday.

The cable read: “In my own name and on behalf of the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I congratulate you on assuming the leadership of Egypt at this critical point of its history. By doing so, I appeal to Allah Almighty to help you to shoulder the responsibility that you have been given to achieve the hopes of our sisterly people of the Arab Republic of Egypt. At the same time, we strongly shake hands with the men of all the armed forces, represented by General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi, who managed to save Egypt at this critical moment from a dark tunnel who only God could apprehend its dimensions and repercussions. However wisdom and moderation came out of those men to preserve the rights of all parties in the political process.”