FULL MILITARY COUP under way now in #Egypt

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Egypt: 20 Armored Vehicles Have Been Deployed In Suez
July 3, 2013 | 1744 GMT
About 20 armored personnel carriers have been deployed near a local mosque in Suez where supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi are rallying, Ahram Online reported July 3. Military helicopters are hovering over the city and the Suez Canal. Al Arabiya reported that soldiers are beginning to spread in Giza.

Egypt: 93 Diplomats Declare Strike
July 3, 2013 | 1734 GMT
Ninety-three Egyptian diplomats, including some in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some based abroad, declared a strike July 3, according to MENA news agency, Ahram Online reported.

Egypt: State Of Emergency To Be Issued Ahead Of Military Statement, Official Says
July 3, 2013 | 1719 GMT
The Egyptian military will announce a state of emergency for all units by 8 pm local time in anticipation of violence against citizens following a statement from the army expected to be issued a half hour later, unnamed military sources said, Youm 7 reported. The statement will address the military’s deadline for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to meet the demands of protesters and define Egypt’s roadmap for the future.

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Current photo of Cairo square

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20:30 Maha Abou Bakr, a senior member of the anti-Morsi ‘Rebel’ campaign, tells Ahram Arabic that the group has suggested Mohamed Ghoneim, a founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, to head the national coalition government that they expect to be formed following Morsi’s ouster.

Bakr further added that the movement has nominated leftist politician Hossam Eissa to be one of two deputy prime ministers, suggesting that the second deputy be a member of the Islamist current.

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[21:46] Al-Ahram: Egyptian armed forces told Morsi he was no longer president at 7 p.m. Cairo time

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21:02 Here we go. Chief of Egyptian armed forces, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, is speaking live on Egyptian television.

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Sissi: We met with the president June 22. We told him our position and our rejection to destroy the institutions and any threats ag people.
 
12:04 PM
TwitterMarquardtA @MarquardtA
Sissi: From last November, we started calling for national dialogue and it was rejected by the presidency in the last moment. #EgyptABC
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12:04 PM
TwitterMarquardtA @MarquardtA
Sissi: We are committed in all our duties and our responsibilities in a truthful way. #EgyptABC
 
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Sissi: This is the msg the Armed Forces received from all parts of Egypt, all cities, all villages. And we understood this call. #EgyptABC

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Suspended constitution. Chief Supreme Court judge temporary president.

Parliament dissolved!

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21:18 The Morsi supporters in their thousands at Rabaa Al-Adawiya are defiant.

21:15 El-Sisi's speech specified that the constitution will be suspended temporarily; the head of the High Constitutional Court will take over the presidency and have powe until early presidential elections, that will be followed by parliamentary elections - dates as yet unspecified - and there will be a national coalition cabinet formed.

21:12 It looks like Misr 25, the Egyptian Brotherhood-run television channel, is off air.

21:10 The speech is over. There are massive celebrations going on at anti-Morsi rallies in Tahrir Square and Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo.

21:06 El-Sisi continues:

    We have made many proposals to get out of the current crisis.

    We met with the Egyptian president on 30 June, 2013, during which we rejected any threat to the Egyptian people.

    We were hoping for reconciliation that would fulfill the aspirations of the people.

    However, the president's address did not live up to the expectations of the Egyptian people.

    So we called for a meeting involving different parties, without excluding anyone.

    Our roadmap consists of: 1- Suspending the constitution.

    2-Holding early presidential elections. The High Constitutional Court head will be in charge of the country until then.

    3-Forming a national coalition government.

    4-Forming a committee to look into amendments of the constitution.

    Taking measures to include the Egyptian youth in the decision-making process.

    The armed forces call on the great Egyptian people to abstain from violence and resort to peaceful protest.

    We salute the armed forces for their repeated sacrifices for the sake of the county.

21:04 Some initial quotes from the speech by the head of Egypt's military:

     The armed forces would never turn a blind eye towards the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

    The armed forces will always be out of politics. The Egyptian people called on the armed forces to fulfill the goals of the revolution.

    The armed forces understood the demands of the Egyptian people. We are committed to fulfilling our responsibility.

     Since November 2012, we have called for a national dialogue, which was accepted by all parties except the presidency.

21:02 Here we go. Chief of Egyptian armed forces, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, is speaking live on Egyptian television.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/75594/Egypt/Politics-/Live-updates-Egypt-tense-as-army-deadline-passes;-.aspx

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21:50 The official website of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ikhwan Online, writes that the military’s announcement is a "conspiracy against legitimacy, a military coup that wastes popular will and brings Egypt back to despotism."

    The statement continued: "Religious scholars condemn the coup and affirm the necessity of upholding the elected president. Symbols of the defunct regime are coming back to the scene at the expense of the blood of the martyrs of the 25 January."

    The statement also claimed that "millions in many squares in Egypt have started a sit-in in support of legitimacy."

The website also reported that armed forces, deployed a few hours ago around Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque, are personally searching everyone getting into the pro-Morsi sit-in and preventing people from chanting in support of Morsi except after they’re inside the square.

21:34 The head of Egypt's High Constitutional Court, the most senior Egyptian court, is Adly Mansour. He was promoted to the position in June.

21:32 Attendees at the press conference where El-Sisi gave his speech included a number of top military and police officials who sat in two rows on either side of the podium; the Coptic Orthodox patriarch Tawadros II; the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb; ElBaradei; a representative of Nour Party; Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, one of the anti-Morsi Rebel campaign's founders; and a senior judicial figure.

21:30 Liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei spoke at the army-held press conference. He says the roadmap drawn up by the military will guarantee the fulfillment of Egyptians' main demand – early presidential elections.

    "I hope that will mark the beginning of a new era for the 2011 January revolution," he added.

21:28 The grand sheikh of Al-Azhar said that he supported the call for early presidential elections based on an Islamic precept that the better of two evils is a religious duty,. Accordingly, those gathered decided to hold early presidential elections, their fairness guaranteed by the judiciary, the armed forces and the police.

21:25 The Brotherhood's FJP just tweeted "history will tell that the first decision of the military coup, in which the advocates of democracy participated, is putting off air all opposition channels," a reference to the Brotherhood's channel and other Islamist owned channels being blacked out after El-Sisi's announcement.

21:22 At the press conference where El-Sisi spoke a few moments ago, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, is speaking, followed by Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II.

21:20 It looks like several other Islamist-run channels including Hafez and Al-Nas are off air

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/75594/Egypt/Politics-/Live-updates-Egypt-tense-as-army-deadline-passes;-.aspx

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22:00 The interior ministry has released a statement upholding the army's announcement. The statement says that the army's roadmap fulfills "the people’s will and their interests" and stressed that the police stand by the armed forces in efforts to achieve the country’s security and stability.

There has clearly been a lot of coordination between the military and the police over recent days, as shown in supportive statements like these.

21:55 The Islamist-run television channels that were taken off air were apparently also evacuated by police, reports Ahram Arabic.

Police forces went to the Media Production City in Cairo's 6 October satellite city, where the offices and studios of these channels are located, and evacuated them. The police also arrested some of the staff working for these channels.

21:52 Mohamed Morsi has announced on the official Facebook page of the presidency that the announcement made by the armed forces is a coup and that he rejects it. He said that as president and head of the armed forces he calls on all civil and military citizens to abide by constitution and law and not respond to the coup.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/75594/Egypt/Politics-/Live-updates-Egypt-tense-as-army-deadline-passes;-.aspx