Egypt: Mursi Removes Gen. Tantawi

Local Editor

Egypt’s new Islamist President Mohammad Mursi dismissed Cairo’s two top generals Sunday and canceled a military order that curbed his powers, in a dramatic move that could free him of some of the restrictions of military rule.
A member of the military council stated that Mursi, a moderate Islamist popularly elected in June but with constitutional powers sharply circumscribed in advance by the generals, had consulted Tantawi, 76, and Gen. Sami Enan, 64, the military chief of staff, before ordering both men to retire.

“Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi has been transferred into retirement from today [Sunday],” presidential spokesman, Yasser Ali, said in a statement. In his place as armed forces chief and defense minister, Mursi appointed Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi.
Enan was replaced by Gen. Sidki Sobhi. Both retirees, whose positions may have been weakened by an embarrassing military debacle last week against Islamist militants in the Sinai desert, were appointed as advisers to the president.
“The decision was a sovereign one, taken by the president to pump new blood into the military establishment in the interests of developing a new, modern state,” spokesman Ali told Reuters after making the announcement.

“It was a critical decision and the members of the military council understood this because they are patriotic and Gen. Sisi is from the new generation of the patriotic men of the armed forces. He is responsible and well-respected,” said Ali.
In sweeping changes, the President also ordered the retirement of the commanders of the navy, air defense and air force.

The retired navy commander, Lt. Gen. Mohan Mameesh, was named as chairman of the Suez Canal, the strategic waterway linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and a major source of revenues for the country.
The move will be seen as a major moment in the battle for power between the Muslim Brotherhood from which Mursi came and the army, which remains among the most well-organized bodies in the country.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org