Morsi out, Mansour in

Adly Mansour, the head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, has been sworn in Thursday as Egypt's temporary head of state after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

In his first remarks, Mansour praised the massive street demonstrations, that began on June 30, that led to Morsi's ouster. He also hailed the youth behind the protests saying they embodied "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 said. "I offer my greetings to the revolutionary people of Egypt."

Meanwhile, Egyptian military police on Wednesday arrested the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, for inciting the killing of protesters. Warrants for the arrests of a number of other senior members of the Brotherhood have also been issued.

After a 48-hour deadline for Morsi to reach a compromise deal with the opposition was met with no action by the president, the Egyptian army began its intervention solution Wednesday night.

Armed Forces Commander in Chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said on national television that Mansour, would act as interim president and pledged the creation of a national unity government to serve until fresh elections could take place. He said a "strong and capable" government would be formed that would have "full capacities."

Al-Sissi also announced the formation of a panel that would look into amendments to the constitution and a law would be drafted to regulate parliamentary elections. The current constitution - drafted in a committee dominated by Morsi's Islamist allies - had been suspended, he said.

Following the news, Cairo's Tahrir Square, the centerpoint of the public protests opposing Morsi, erupted in celebration with people letting off fireworks, singing and cheering in the streets.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad wrote on his Twitter feed that Morsi was placed under house arrest at the headquarters of the Republican Guard along with several other Brotherhood members. He later said Morsi had been separated and taken to the defense ministry.

A revolution reignited

A statement on the Egyptian president's office's Twitter account quoted Morsi as saying that the actions of the military amounted to "a full coup." Morsi narrowly won a presidential runoff election last June, claiming 51.7 percent of the vote and becoming Egypt's first democratically elected president.

However, Egypt's largely state-run press unanimously dubbed the army's overthrow as a “legitimate” revolution.

"The people's legitimacy was victorious," the government-owned Al-Gomhuriya said on its front page.

The headline in government-owned newspaper, Al-Ahram, read, "President ousted by revolutionary legitimacy."

State-owned Al-Akhbar said, "And the people's revolution was victorious.”

Violence was reported in several cities across Egypt overnight. State-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported eight deaths and 343 injuries. The Brotherhood's El-Haddad also said on Twitter that men in plain clothes had opened fire on a group of Morsi supporters protesting against the military intervention.

hc/rg (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)