Egypt's president Morsi dismisses Field Marshal Tantawi

[Menelik_I]

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's president, has dismissed the head of the armed forces and defence minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, according to the country's state news agency.

President Mohammed Morsi also appointed a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as vice president.

Yasser Ali, the presidential spokesperson, said in a news conference aired on state TV on Sunday, that Morsi appointed a new defence minister, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Tantawi headed the military council that ruled Egypt for 17 months after Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February 2011.

The decisions announced will go into effect immediately.

Al Jazeera's correspondent, Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said the president's spokesperson made the surprising announcement on state television.

"The other shock announcement was 'the retiring' of Sami Enan, the chief of staff.

"There will be a lot of questions asked, especially if Morsi is able to do this," our correspondent said.

"In the coming hours, we will find out how this decision came about. All of this has happened very fast, and it was unexpected."

Tantawi was defence minister for nearly two decades under Mubarak

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...511142445.html

Is the crisis coming to an End game or are is the Military going to hold ground ? What about the Facebook kids, are they going to support the military or going to way for Burka Tuesday patiently ?

Is this going to turn full COD in the streets of Cairo again or we have another Camel charge in the boxes ?

Discuss.

[skh1]

Will the army accept this decision?

The constitution imposed by the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces — headed by Field Marshall Muhammed Tantawi incidently, well perhaps not so incidently) denies the president any authority over the army. President Mursi has declared this constitution as "cancelled".

One notes that this "interim" constitution was imposed by the army itself after President Hosni Mubarak's fall from power and before Mr. Mursi assumed office so is hardly a disinterested document. Even so, technically speaking, this casts the President's action in the ambiguous light of extra-legality at least from the Army's point of view and [this] might serve as justification to any reaction they might be contemplating.

As I see it, this is as forthright a challenge to the military as can be imagined leaving SCAF the alternatives of either acquiesing to the authority of the elected Head of State, Mr. Mursi, or deposing him in a coup. Hopefully, the situation will not degrade into one as manichean as this and that some way forward will be found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19234763

[Lazzeer]

Will the army accept this decision?

The constitution imposed by the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces — headed by Field Marshall Muhammed Tantawi incidently, well perhaps not so incidently) denies the president any authority over the army. President Mursi has declared this constitution as "cancelled".

One notes that this "interim" constitution was imposed by the army itself after President Hosni Mubarak's fall from power and before Mr. Mursi assumed office so is hardly a disinterested document. Even so, technically speaking, this casts the President's action in the ambiguous light of extra-legality at least from the Army's point of view and [this] might serve as justification to any reaction they might be contemplating.

As I see it, this is as forthright a challenge to the military as can be imagined leaving SCAF the alternatives of either acquiesing to the authority of the elected Head of State, Mr. Mursi, or deposing him in a coup. Hopefully, the situation will not degrade into one as manichean as this and that some way forward will be found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19234763

Yeah I kinda doubt the military will take this that well, and I think we'll probably see some form of show-down between the two.

At the same time though we don't know the pressures being applied both to Mursi and Tantawi atm, so it's possible that Tantawi might agree to resign in exchange for a rather large golden handshake. I'm not sure how happy the US and Saudi Arabia will be about Tantawi's removal however, as they might feel it gives Mursi/Islamists too much control over Egypt.

[hellheaven1987]

Is the crisis coming to an End game or are is the Military going to hold ground?

Holy , isn't the end game came way too soon and unpredicted?

Now this whole Sinai incident sounds more like a conspiracy instead a common military campaign.

Edit: According to BBC Scaf gave a green light.

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has ordered the retirement of the powerful head of the country's armed forces, Field Marshal Mohamad Hussein Tantawi, a presidential spokesman has said.

He also said a constitutional declaration aimed at curbing presidential powers had been cancelled.

Mr Mursi, who was elected in June, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Relations between Islamists and the military have been increasingly tense since the fall of President Mubarak.

"Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi has been transferred into retirement from today," presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said in a statement.

He added that a career army officer, Gen Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, would replace Field Marshal Tantawi as both armed forces chief and defence minister.

Chief of staff Sami Annan is also retiring, the spokesman announced.

Field Marshal Tantawi, 76, has not yet indicated whether he accepts the moves.

However Gen Mohamed el-Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), told Reuters news agency that the decision had been "based on consultation with the field marshal, and the rest of the military council".

Source

[Blaze86420]

Holy crap, how the hell did he manage to do that?

[Glista]

Holy crap, how the hell did he manage to do that?

With civilized dialog ?

[YukonTrooper]

Holy crap, how the hell did he manage to do that?

Probably a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, negotiating, bribing, blackmailing, etc. that we'll never actually know about. Nonetheless, a step in the right direction for Egypt. Hopefully it holds up.

[skh1]

Probably a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, negotiating, bribing, blackmailing, etc. that we'll never actually know about. Nonetheless, a step in the right direction for Egypt. Hopefully it holds up.

An acute observation.

Field Marshal Tantawi, 76, has not yet indicated whether he accepts the moves.
However Gen Mohamed el-Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), told Reuters news agency that
the decision had been "based on consultation with the field marshal, and the rest of the military council".
[…]
The presidential spokesman said Gen Annan [also announced as retiring] and Field Marshal Tantawi had been appointed as presidential advisers and
were given Egypt's highest state honour, the Grand Collar of the Nile.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19234763

The cited article offers this analysis from Mr. Kevin Connolly, BBC Middle East correspondent, quoted in its entirety —

As he took office it seemed President Mohammed Mursi would be governing within narrow limits set by Egypt's generals - who had exercised power behind the throne for decades and then exercised it directly in the months since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
But it is possible Mr Mursi's opponents may have underestimated him.
Egypt's army was unprepared for a recent attack on a security base in the Sinai desert by Islamic militants in which 16 soldiers died.
Mr Mursi appears to be seizing on that failure - which shocked ordinary Egyptians - to move against two key members of the high command.
It may be that the move has been co-ordinated secretly with other influential generals behind the scenes but for now, no-one can be sure.

[frozenprince]

Mursi has some big ones on him apparently.

[motiv-8]

Mursi has some big ones on him apparently.

Man's got the force of a popular revolution behind him. That's some powerful stuff. Egypt's military is not willing to use force to maintain their position unlike in Libya and Syria. Thankfully.

[frozenprince]

Man's got the force of a popular revolution behind him. That's some powerful stuff. Egypt's military is not willing to use force to maintain their position unlike in Libya and Syria. Thankfully.

It's nice to see a peaceful transition appears to be what is going to happen, maybe this will stop people from using Egypt as an example against the revolution in Syria and the arab spring in general.

[Burnum]

Man's got the force of a popular revolution behind him. That's some powerful stuff. Egypt's military is not willing to use force to maintain their position unlike in Libya and Syria. Thankfully.

Time will tell.

[Vanoi]

Time will tell.

You forget who is actually in control of Egypt's military.

[hellheaven1987]

You forget who is actually in control of Egypt's military.

Egyptian government??

[Blaze86420]

The Egyptian military controls the Egyptian military which is why this is so surprising, too good to be true. How does an organization controlling an estimated 20% of the Egyptian economy and defined Egyptian politics for six decades gets pushed to the side this easily? Bribery? What does the MB have that the SCAF didn't have already?

[Vanoi]

The Egyptian military controls the Egyptian military which is why this is so surprising, too good to be true. How does an organization controlling an estimated 20% of the Egyptian economy and defined Egyptian politics for six decades gets pushed to the side this easily? Bribery? What does the MB have that the SCAF didn't have already?

Military pushed to the side? They still retain some control. The MB doesn't not control them. They pretty much act on their own, but are influenced from the outside on what to do. Like you wouldn't see the Egyptian military going to war with the Israelis anytime soon. If they want to keep all the fancy toys they have, they won't try anything.

[Menelik_I]

Like you wouldn't see the Egyptian military going to war with the Israelis anytime soon. If they want to keep all the fancy toys they have, they won't try anything.

Nor would the Americans want it to happen, because hundreds of burning M1 Abrams littering the Sinai would bad publicity.

[Blaze86420]

Military pushed to the side? They still retain some control. The MB doesn't not control them. They pretty much act on their own, but are influenced from the outside on what to do. Like you wouldn't see the Egyptian military going to war with the Israelis anytime soon. If they want to keep all the fancy toys they have, they won't try anything.

He sent both the chairman and deputy chairman of the SCAF into retirement, hereby making the constitutional amendment void. These two plus Omar Suleiman, that's three of the biggest military figures in the country, all three are now gone. It's only a matter of time before the SCAF is dissolved, the purge is gradual, it has to be if Morsi wants to avoid a coup. But it's happening, and that's what surprised me; the military let them take the first step.

Why would you bring up Israel? The feud between the MB and the military is a domestic issue. Egypt would not go to war with Israel regardless, whether the military is in control or not.

[hellheaven1987]

He sent both the chairman and deputy chairman of the SCAF into retirement, hereby making the constitutional amendment void. These two plus Omar Suleiman, that's three of the biggest military figures in the country, all three are now gone. It's only a matter of time before the SCAF is dissolved, the purge is gradual, it has to be if Morsi wants to avoid a coup. But it's happening, and that's what surprised me; the military let them take the first step.

On the other hand SCAF did send out its member to discuss this matter; sound like there are some military stuff wants to backstab their commanders as soon as possible.

But this event remind me how Hitler fired Blomberg and Fritsch.

[Morbius Sire]

This will be interesting to see how it develops. No matter what happens, I am sure the US will be watching closely as to make sure Egypt doesn't attack Israel. So the egyptian military will try its best to keep the status quo.


But this makes me wonder: was the attack on the sinai coincidental or deliberate?