BREAKING: Egyptian Military Confirms Morsi Is Out Lays Out Roadmap for New Govt.

BREAKING: Egyptian Military Confirms Morsi Is Out Lays Out Roadmap for New Govt.

The Egyptian Military said they were going to take over at 11AM EDT if Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi did not reconcile with the opposition and meet the demands of the people.  The latest news from Egypt is the military did not issue a false threat.

The Military took over Egyptian State TV about an hour before the deadline and multiple sources are saying they have begun to move in on the Morsi government:

President Mohammed Morsi's national security adviser saying a military coup is now underway, while the military has vowed to defend its people "against any terrorist, radical or fool.”

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," the adviser, Essam al-Haddad, said on his Facebook page.

Today, only one thing matters. In this day and age, no military coup can succeed in the face of sizable popular force without considerable bloodshed. Who among you is ready to shoulder that blame?"

He added, "In a democracy, there are simple consequences for the situation we see in Egypt: The president loses the next election or his party gets penalized in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Anything else is mob rule."

There are unconfirmed rumors that Morsi is under house arrest.

Right now in Cairo there two massive demonstrations, one is pro-Morsi, the other anti-Morsi.  According to Christiane Amanpour she has seen the military edging in on the anti-Morsi Crowd.

The only statement the Military has issued so far is that they are meeting with the opposition and will not have anything to say until those meeting are over.

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood was interviewed by Amanpour and said tanks and military vehicles are approaching the pro-Morsi demonstrators ordering them to disperse. 

He also mentioned that all communication lines to the President have been cut off.

 This post will be updated. 

UPDATE: 1PM EDT  Security forces have placed an international travel ban on Mr Morsi and other leading Muslim Brotherhood members. 

Egypt's State Newspaper which was taken over by the military earlier this morning, has reported that President Morsi is no longer in the chain of decision-making.

"The president is no longer able to make any political decisions now and a decision has been taken to prevent leaders loyal to the current regime from traveling overseas until the General Command of the Armed Forces are finished formulating their expected statement," it added.

UPDATE: 1:25 BBC is reporting that The Egyptian army has erected barbed wire around a barracks where President Morsi was working and deployed armored vehicles and troops to prevent his supporters marching from a nearby rally to his palace

UPDATE: 1:40-The Spokesman of the Armed Forces on his official "Facebook" The meeting of the General Command of the Armed Forces with a number of religious symbols, national and youth over now.added that he will be issuing a statement the results of this meeting on various media within an hour from now.

From Jeremy Brown of the BBC:

I asked four middle-aged men, two taxi drivers and two accountants, sipping sweet tea and puffing tobacco through water pipes in a scruffy pavement café, whether they would prefer to have a man like former President Hosni Mubarak back in office.

They all said yes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's because back then we were safe!" finished one of the accountants, Said Ahmed, back home from his job in Saudi Arabia.

UPDATE 2:00

Sheikh Abu Ishaq well known Salafist preacher has issued a Fatwa to the of protesting supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, they need to return to their homes right away and avoid bloodshed.

UPDATE 2:11 They Egyptian Miltary Issued this statement

In light of the allegations related by some people during phone calls with the US CNN News Agency, about the allegedly targeting of some protesters by the Egyptian Military in the District of Rab'a El Adaweyia, the Egyptian Armed Forces would like to stress the following:

- These allegations are entirely false, mere lies and fabrications; they come in the framework of achieving certain suspicious political objectives.

- The Egyptian Military is the army of all Egyptians, and the security forces deployed in several districts nationwide are responsible for saving the lives of all Egyptian without discrimination.

- We reiterate and call on all local and foreign mass media to necessarily seek accuracy in the news involving the Military Establishment and local affairs in Egypt, in a way to avoid the pursuits to drive a wedge between the military and its people and the systematic falsification of realities. We also stress the importance for ongoing communication with the Military Establishment through its military spokesman, who is the one entrusted in this regard.

 We Still expect to have a statement from the military on the status of the Govt. in about a half hour.

 According to Egyptian state media, the expected joint statement from Egypt's most senior Muslim authority, Coptic clerics and opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei will set an interim period before fresh presidential and parliamentary elections.

The official Mena news agency says the statement will be made in the presence of military leaders and figures from the Tamarod group, a new grassroots protest movement.
Tamarod, whose name means "rebel" in Arabic, earlier claimed it had collected more than 22 million signatures for a petition demanding Mr Morsi step down and allow fresh presidential elections to be held.

3:00 UPDATE- No statement yet--however we have seen evidence that the Army has closed off all roads to the presidential palace.

In the "What the Heck?" Department:
Syrian TV has quoted  Syrian Information Minister Omran Al Zoghbi as saying that Morsi should leave office to for the good of the people....aren't people saying that about his president Assad?

3:11 UPDATE:

General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi: The army sees that the Egyptian people are calling it to support them, not to take power or to reign, but to serve the public interest and to protect the revolution. This is the message that the armed forces have received from all corners of Egypt.

The speech of the president last night came against the aspirations and demands of the people. That has necessitated the armed forces to consult some national figures - political, religious and youth - and those who attended have agreed on a roadmap that will build a strong and unified Egyptian society.

Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a statement the armed forces that the political forces that met with the General Command of the Armed Forces agreed on the map for the future, agreed on the following: - Disable the constitution temporarily. - Second divides the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court oath before the general assembly of the court Alddsturih and the Presidency President of the Court for the presidency. - call for presidential elections early. - the right of the President of the Constitutional Court to make declarations of constitutional and legal provisions necessary to manage the transition. - enable young people to play a prominent role in the political life and to enable them under their role in political life. - to form a committee Graduate of credible figures, acceptance and representing different trends - the formation of a committee for national reconciliation. 

Immediately after the General's statement the TV Station of the Muslim Brotherhood went off the air, several other Islamist-run channels including Hafez and Al-Nas are off air.

The grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar spoke at the military presser and 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.Liberal politician 

Mohamed ElBaradei also 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.

The Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II says the political roadmap has been agreed on "in good faith out of a great love of the nation".

 UPDATE 4:00 Update-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. The ex-president asked all citizens, civilians or military, to abide by the constitution and the law, and not to respond to what he describes as a coup. He also calls on Egyptians to "avoid bloodshed".


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.