Egypt rejoices as Morsi declared President
CAIRO: Egypt’s wait for the president is over now. Islamist Mohamed Morsi becomes the first Islamist head of state in the Arab world’s most populous nation. He defeated ex-premier Ahmed Shafiq. Morsi’s victory brings joy among his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on the streets.
Now Egyptians, and Western allies has urged Morsi to work fast to repair the economy and bitter divisions in society exposed since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
Former President Hosni Mubarak, who was pushed aside by his fellow officers 16 months ago to appease the Arab Spring revolution.
Supporters turned Cairo’s Tahrir Square into a roaring sea of flags and chants of “Allahu akbar!” (God is greatest), said they would press on with protest vigils to demand that the ruling military council cancel this month’s dissolution of the Islamist-led parliament and a decree which gave the generals powers that will restrict the president.
Morsi was born in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya and graduated with an engineering degree from Cairo University in 1975. He received a PhD from the University of Southern California, where he was an assistant professor, in 1982.
He was a member of an anti-Israel group, the Committee to Resist Zionism, but dedicated much of his time to the Muslim Brotherhood, which first fielded him in a parliamentary election in 2000.
