Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi hold posters depicting him during a protest near Cairo university, yesterday.
Cairo: The toppling of Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi divided the Middle East yesterday, with Tunisia’s ruling Islamists denouncing it as a coup while Gulf Arab leaders celebrated.
The United States expressed concern at the overthrow of the elected Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood and called for a swift return to democracy, as did the European Union. But they stopped short of calling it a coup, which might have led to sanctions.
The 54-nation African Union was likely to suspend Egypt for allowing “unconstitutional change”, a senior AU source said.
Across the Middle East, governments reacted to Mursi’s fall in ways that reflected their embrace or loathing of political Islam.
“Military intervention is totally unacceptable and we call on Egypt to ensure that Mursi is physically protected,” said President Moncef Marzouki of Tunisia. The ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, condemned what it called a “coup against legitimacy”.
Ennahda’s rise closely mirrored that of Mursi’s Brotherhood: both won power after Arab Spring revolutions toppled secular autocrats in Tunisia, then Egypt, in 2011. Since then the divide between secularists and Islamists, which helped to bring down Mursi, has also widened in Tunisia.
Turkey, a secular Muslim nation rocked by weeks of anti-government protests, was harshly critical of Egypt’s army.
“It is unacceptable for a government that has come to power through democratic elections to be toppled through illicit means and, even more, a military coup,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
But for Gulf Arab states, which see Egypt as a strategic ally against any threat from non-Arab Iran across the Gulf, the appointment of constitutional court chief Adli Mansour as interim leader was met with congratulations and evident relief.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spoke of his “consideration and satisfaction” in a cable to Mansour.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia sent a message of congratulations “in this critical period of ... history”. Kuwait’s ruler H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, was quoted as praising Egypt’s armed forces for the “positive and historic role” they played in preserving stability.
Iraq said it stood with the Egyptian people and was ready to “develop relations between the two brotherly countries on the highest level”.
But Iran, which sought to repair its strained ties with Egypt after Mursi’s election a year ago, gave a guarded response.
“Certainly the resistant nation of Egypt will protect its independence and greatness from foreign and enemy opportunism during the difficult conditions that follow,” Fars news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi as saying.
Mursi visited Tehran on one of his first official trips abroad, but the two countries have found themselves supporting opposite sides of a civil war in Syria that has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones.
Syria, fighting to crush a two-year-old uprising against President Bashar Al Assad, urged Mursi to step down on Wednesday and realise “that the overwhelming majority of the Egyptian people reject him”, Information Minister Omran Zoabi said.
Neighbouring Israel avoided any show of satisfaction over Mursi’s ouster, although a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hope Mansour’s appointment would lead to the restoration of largely frozen contacts with Cairo.
“Yesterday’s events strengthen the feeling that perhaps we have passed the bad period and perhaps now there will be a chance to have diplomatic ties with whomever will govern Egypt in the near future,” Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio.
Western powers called for restraint and a swift return to democracy in Egypt after the army toppled Islamist president Mursi on Wednesday, detaining him and his top aides.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton meanwhile condemned the bloodshed and called for a swift return to democracy.
“I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections and the approval of a constitution,” she said.
She expressed hope that the transitional administration announced by the new regime would be fully inclusive and that human rights and the rule of law would be respected.
“I strongly condemn all violent acts, offer my condolences to the families of the victims, and urge the security forces to do everything in their power to protect the lives and well-being of Egyptian citizens,” said Ashton.
Britain expressed concern at the latest developments.
“The situation is clearly dangerous and we call on all sides to show restraint and avoid violence,” said Foreign Secretary William Hague.
“The United Kingdom does not support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system,” Hague said in a statement. He called for “early and fair elections which all parties are able to contest, and civilian-led government.”
A Canadian foreign ministry spokesman called for calm, for dialogue between the rival parties and a return to democracy.
Reuters/AFP
