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Subscribe to RSSEgypt has elected a conservative president who has said he wants to impose Islamic law. How he will change the country remains unclear. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET: CAIRO - Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate, was declared Egypt’s first Islamist president on Sunday with 51.7 percent of last weekend's run-off vote, defeating Ahmed Shafiq, who had been tapped as prime minister by former President Hosni Mubarak.
In an address to Egyptians late Sunday night, Morsi reiterated his platform of unifying all Egyptians. Of those who died while protesting more than a year ago, he said, "Their blood will not go in vain."
Morsi becomes Egypt’s fifth president, following Mubarak, who was president for nearly 30 years before mass protests across the country forced him to resign in February 2011.
The announcement by the state election committee Sunday touched off a jubilant celebration in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where tens of thousands of Brotherhood supporters had gathered in 97-degree heat. The crowd waved national flags and chanted "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is great!"
Morsi will be sworn in on July 1, according to the election timetable.
His victory followed speculation about backroom deals and suspected interference by the ruling military council in determining the outcome in favor of Shafiq, Mubarak’s prime minister.
In his speech Sunday night, Morsi said that contrary to popular belief, he was grateful to the police, whom he called his "brothers and children." He said he would rely on them to maintain "security from the inside."
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
Supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, protest against Egypt's military rulers in Tahrir Square on Saturday.
Morsi, who received an engineering degree from the University of Southern California in the early 1980s according to media reports, was a last-minute candidate, chosen to represent the Brotherhood after their preferred choice was disqualified.
On the campaign trail, he promised to institute Islamic law. One of his supporters, cleric Safwat el-Hegazy, issued a direct challenge to Israel, calling for a Muslim super-state across the Middle East with Jerusalem as its capital.
Morsi, 60, distanced himself from the cleric’s comments, but they trailed him on the campaign despite his assertion that he will respect international treaties, including the 1979 peace accord, on which much U.S. aid depends. He said he will not, however, meet with Israeli officials, according to the BBC.
He has also pledged to form an inclusive government to appeal to the many Egyptians, including a large Christian minority worried about potential religious rule. He has repeated that he would maintain his independence from the Brotherhood and not turn Egypt into a theocracy.
Morsi won the first round ballot in May with less than a quarter of the vote.
NBC Foreign Correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Tahrir Square.
There were some isolated scuffles in parts of Cairo between rival groups on Sunday. Several hundred Shafiq supporters in the middle-class suburb of Nasr City chanted "Save Egypt! The Brotherhood will destroy it!'' while soldiers tried to keep traffic moving.
The military council will retain control of the biggest army in the Middle East, whose closest ally is the United States.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that has ruled Egypt for more than 16 months, congratulated the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate after his presidential election win was confirmed, state television reported. The report, made in a brief headline, did not give further details.
Morsi "will likely face foot-dragging and perhaps outright attempts to undermine his initiatives from key institutions," Elijah Zarwan, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in Cairo. "Faced with such resistance, frustration may tempt him fall into the trap of attempting to throw his new weight around. This would be a mistake. His challenge is to lead a bitterly divided, fearful, and angry population toward a peaceful democratic outcome, without becoming a reviled scapegoat for continued military rule."
Egyptians fill Cairo's Tahrir Square in anticipation of a new government being announced. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Egypt's ruling armed forces were on alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final hours before the state election committee named the winner.
Sunday's result -- 500 days after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak -- is historic for the Middle East, but will not end power struggles between the army, Islamists and others over Egypt's future.
The generals, who oversaw Mubarak's departure, have repeatedly said, both to Egyptians and to their close U.S. ally, that they will return to barracks and hand over to civilian rule. But they present themselves as guardians of Egypt's security and long-term interests and moved to block the Islamists from taking more than a share of power.
The military has held power in Egypt for nearly 60 years since the revolution to overthrow a dynasty.
Iran's Foreign Ministry congratulated Egyptians on Sunday for Morsi's victory, saying Egypt was in the final stages of an "Islamic Awakening."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying he "appreciates the democratic process in Egypt and respects its outcome."
"Israel expects continue cooperation with the Egyptian administration on the basis of the peace accord between the two countries, which is in the interest of the two peoples and contributes to regional stability,'' the statement said.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell examines the obstacles ahead for President-elect Mohammed Morsi of Egypt.
The son of a peasant farmer, Morsi has spoken of a simple childhood in a village in the Nile Delta province of Sharqia, recalling how his mother taught him prayer and the Koran. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1982 after studying at Cairo University.
Following his studies in the United States, he returned to Egypt in 1985. Two of his five children hold U.S. citizenship.
Charlene Gubash, NBC News producer in Cairo, msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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So now it turns out that Obama and his Appointee Clinton, have enabled the Muslim Brotherhood to gain complete control of the largest, most powerful Arab country, Egypt. Once a fairly close ally for us in the region, Egypt now has leaders eager for the annihilation of Israel and the USA. A total failure both at home and abroad. Could this be part of his plan?
Dahly, tell me just how Obama and Clinton enabled the Muslim Brotherhood to gain control? Please explain with facts, not some spin. Do you think we actually had a hand in the election? Get real. Or do you think we should have attacked them again to keep the Brotherhood out?
He may have influenced it indirectly when he made these comments in 2011.
WELL it is over for the people of Egypt and i wish them all the best and hope they will not all be beheaded for what they say or do under the hands of the muslim brotherhood not cap on muslim they do not get my respect. so sorry for all the people of Egypt, RIP
I used to live in the middle east, and it is a very challenging place, as always...
I remember people saying, slow things down so that the other parties can get organised. Out great President wanted a fast elections so this is the result. They said we will not run for president, they Lied so we will have to take what they say with a grain of salt.
Nice to see the Fox News trolls have congregated for there little hate the Muslim hour on MSNBC should anyone think this may bring peace and prosperity to Egypt for the sake of the Egyptian people, but then again you can bash Muslims for your republican propaganda channel from right wing nut fear mongers. Once again those Fox News sheep cry out those famous words Muslims bad, President Obama is a secret Muslim he is not one of us. I bet the Presidents white mother is rolling in her grave just thniking about how right she was to think this nation is filled with bigots !
Den1953-since when has the brotherhood wanted peace with Israel-I see nothing good coming out of the brotherhood. This is not being a bigot just observant This is a sad day for those who love peace in Egypt
Oh, here comes Den again spewing left wing garbage. The "Brotherhood" ultimately wants to impose Sharia law and the annihilation of Israel and it sounds like that's what you want to. Anyone who brings up the term "Fox News" has been brainwashed and not to be taken seriously
Yeah Den the muslims treat their women wonderfully don't they.
Another Mohammed for the world to deal with. I wonder how much money we will send them now? If Hillary and Buckwheat Obama have their way we will probably borrow more money from China to send to Egypt to keep those peaceful Muslims happy so they can focus on who to kill first, Jews, other peaceful Muslims, etc. They should have a big flush handle on the middle east so we can flush the s*^t heads down the sewer.
Sean Penn, when told he actually did not win the election, stomped off looking for a photographer to punch.
God Bless Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood. God has given Islam the gift of democracy. The World will embrace you and love you
You are either crazy or you don't know about the Muslim brotherhood.
I vote crazy!
Just like past President Carter (lost Iran) our current President Obama (lost Egypt, etc.) has his legacy and will be able to listen to the sweet sound of Muslim prayer while the Coptic Christians are killed in the streets of Egypt. Yes, Democracy one vote, one time under Islam. Wake up America! We voted for change with this President to prove we were not racist now lets vote him out of office to prove we are not stupid. The book, "The Amateur", quotes former President Clinton as saying, "President Obama is incompetent".
Clinton is correct, and Obama has done more to usher the world one step closer to another world war than any president since JFK. We are seen as weak, incompetant, and unable to export rational, stabilzing foreign policy. Just ask the Russians, Chinese, Taliban, and Syrians if they give a flying f— — k about what we say reference anything in the world. Paper tigers are just that - paper tigers!
A second Islamic democracy - after Iran's...yes we know that democratic system is
far less than perfect - but it's no worse than ours - considering the horrors
of American imperialist, colonialist, and racist history - plus Bush and the
Supreme Court stole the 2000 election, etc. etc.). Now what will come of this
greater unity and source of Arab / Islamic / anti-imperialist / and
anti-Israel power? Just that - containment of U.S. and Israeli hegemony in the
region. Now that's progress - and the Arabs and Muslims who took to the streets
and were willing to fight at all costs (unlike the largely white young and disaffected
occupy Wall Street movement is the U.S.) – never asked permission… this is a real
revolution. First Obama, now this.
Times
are a changing…Bush Sr. proclaimed the emergence of "A New World Order" - and he was right, it just isn't going to be a white international, political, social, cultural or colonial order. That's over.
The people who started the movement to overthrow the prior government were not the Muslim Brotherhood but disaffected youth, educated people looking for jobs and those seeking rights for women they had no anti-West views. What they now will get is strict Islamic Law which is oppressive to the exclusion of women's rights and any other religious beliefs...sounds like the description you paint of America. Guess what, you have the Freedom to leave anytime you want...the Coptic Christians and those of other beliefs in Islamic countries can not worship as they wish and can not leave. White has nothing to do with your comments the middle east is an area of people of color or do you need glasses?
The Iranians use cranes to publicly hang their 'undesirables'.
Gays, rapists, Sunnis, 'spies' and the like.
The Iranians shoot women protesters.
There are no free elections or public dissent.
The give EFP's to our enemies to kill Americans.
They invade and seize foreign Embassies.
The US is the nation that does more for other nations than any previous nation in history.
For every example you provide of "American imperialist, colonialist, and racist history", I will find five examples of American kindness and generosity.
Al Gore lost ten states that the Democrats had in the previous election, including Gore's home state.
Gore managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, with wooden debate performances, a self-centered viewpoint and a vocally anti-gun stance.
Let's let them run thier own country and we'll run ours.
Let's see how this plays out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9slquoIuPC8
2-14-11 Niall Ferguson delivers a stinging analysis of the Egypt situation and Obama's over all foreign policy. The Harvard professor put Mika Brzezinski in her place and then delivered a cerebral smack down that left her head spinning. Ferguson stated the Muslim Brotherhood wants to deliver a caliphate and the Egypt uprising may be similar to that of Iran in 1979. This is a great clip and Niall Ferguson impressed the heck out of me and left the liberals at MSNBC reeling.
Here's another take:
Mika Brzezinski thought she was going to humiliate Niall Ferguson because he's not all excited about the glorious Democratic uprising in Egypt. She naively says things went 'pretty damn well' in Egypt, explaining that she saw pictures and people looked really happy over there. Doesn't take long for Niall to completely destroy Mika's juvenile view of Egypt, in what amounts to nothing less than a humiliating spanking.
Nial was right about the Muslim Broitherhood coming to power. All bets are on he's right about what will play out .
Ixor--Bingo! You hit it--I had not seen any reference before yours to the fact that they want to install a caliphate! I think the people, like Mika Brzenzinsi, who are touting what's been happening in Egypt as a "gift of democracy" out to get out their dictionaries and look up the word "caliphate."
Enough of this BS. Obama is indirectly responsible for an emerging fundamentalist structure in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and just about every country in the Middle East that is being affected by "Arab Spring" crap. Why?? Because the POTUS, the leader of the richest, strongest, and most influential country in the world supported these movements with rhetoric, money, and military aid that culminated in the removal of stabilizing factions that had been controlling terrorist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood for about 40 years. I HAVE lived in Egypt, and this IS the beginning of a reversal of 33 years of peace in the region, a renewal of Egypt-Israel tensions that could lead to another war, as well as growing a muslim theocracy in the largest arab country in the region. This election is a disaster for Egypt. For the people, it's not about democracy, bettering themselves, or getting rid of despots - it's about supporting the folks that promise you the most and let you live the longest. Enough said.
Uh oh, some of the people here who think the POTUS has had a stellar performance in foreign policy are going to have to connect the dots. You won't hear that on the network news!
Gee, I never saw that coming....
Chalk it up to another of Obama's 'foreign policy achievements'.
My advice to any woman who lives is Egypt is to get out while you can still travel freely. islam is a man made virus. Spreading, killing, and leaving nothing but death and destruction in its path. Think it was bad under Mubarak? Just wait. It won't take long for the islamist wackos to start enforcing their ideology on every man, woman and child. Let the bloody slaughter begin. Sooner or later the people of Egypt will be begging the US to remove the newly appointed religious idiot. How long will it take before he becomes a hand puppet to some brainwashed imam? Can anyone say another Iran has not just been created?
stupid muslims
I think they hate us because we rip them off on there oil,then bring it home and use it to rip off our neighbors
Yah we rip them off alright to the tune of the 3 +billion dhimmi dough we've been sending them every year
John--WTF are you talking about? We rip them off? You oughta stop smokin' that stuff!
I started reading this,Got half way through it,thought to myself about news report I read earlyer.(You remember the one where the girl "high on skunk weed" climbed an electric pole.)So then I thought to myself WTF am I reading here? I have to believe it is the manipulated interpretation of the actual truth. Inspired by a bunch of people (most likely capitalist)that have profits they are trying to protect.Why Bother reading any thing they have to say out side of entertainment...bad entertainment LOL
Wow John, forgot your meds again??
The longer I live the more I believe, karl marx had a pritty good grasp on the situation.I dont take meds couldent afford them.Im workin on it though. Getting suiside headeaches/seizures all the time sorta sucks,especaly when you have to jump through hoops you dont have energy to make it through to get help?why do I get poked for stateing an opinon. most every one That posted on the weed comment beleves to be true?
Victory for Mr. Obama, our president who has close ties and supports the Muslim Brotherhood.
He said they had no interest in taking over Egypt......
Muslim Brotherhood + Sharia Law = the Real War on Women
"Islamic democracy", now there's a oxymoron
Osamabama will be so proud.
they fought to remove a dictature and then vote for another dictature...muslim world, go figure...
approximately 60 percent of the Bible is Prophecy go to the Website WeeklyWorldWatch from the uk
to see how the News happening today relates to things spoken of in the Bible.
"He looks like a nice, clean, well-spoken" Muslim....
This terrorist organization which is opposed to womens rights was backed by Obama and his admin. How fast liberal animals forget this.