2013 Egyptian coup d'état

July 2013 Egyptian protests
Part of the 2012–13 Egyptian protests
Date	28 June 2013 (2013-06-28) – ongoing
Location	Tahrir Square and Heliopolis Palace in Cairo other Egyptian cities including Alexandria, Port Said and Suez
Goals	Resignation of President Mohamed Morsi
Casualties
Death(s)	2-7
Injuries	144

President Mohamed Morsi

On 30 June 2013, on the first anniversary of the election of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, millions of protesters across Egypt demanded the immediate resignation of the president because of political, economic and social issues that escalated in his term. In Cairo, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace, while other demonstrations were held in the cities of Alexandria, Port Said and Suez. The demonstrations, which had been largely peaceful, turned violent when five anti-Morsi protesters were killed in separate clashes and shootings. At the same time, supporters of Morsi staged a rally in Nasr City, a district of Cairo.

On the morning of 1 July, anti-Morsi protesters ransacked the national headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. Protesters threw objects at windows and looted the building, making off with office equipment and documents. The health ministry confirmed the deaths of eight people who had been killed in clashes around the headquarters in Mokattam.

On July 3, gunmen killed 16 pro-Morsi demonstrators.

Background

File:Tamarod.jpg

A copy of the petition form that is calling for confidence withdrawal from the "no longer legitimate" President Mohammed Morsi

The mass demonstrations were planned by Tamarod, a grassroots movement that claims it has collected more than 22 million signatures from a petition calling for Morsi to step down as president. Tamarod was founded in April 2013 by the members of the Egyptian Movement for Change, which was formed in 2004 to push for political reform under the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak. In February 2011, Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of mass demonstrations, thus ending his 29-year rule of Egypt. Since then incidents continued under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, after Morsi took office and from 2012 into 2013.

The armed forces' "tipping point" against the president was a 15 June rally which he attended along with other Islamists in which he called for a jihad in Syria amidst the Syrian civil war and called those Shias fighting for the Syrian government and those who opposed the president in Egypt as "infidels." Morsi also called for foreign intervention in Syria against the Syrian government, a move that was rebuke from the army which said that its role was the protection of Egypt's borders.

Protests

Tamarod (Rebel) had given President Mohammed Morsi until 17:00 (15:00 GMT) to resign or face a civil disobedience campaign. That led nationwide protests in the country have given the president Mohammed Morsi an ultimatum to resign as president of Egypt on 2 July. On the other hand, there was a small group of counter-protests (only in Cairo) by supporters of the ruling Islamist alliance.

On the morning of 1 July, anti-Morsi protesters ransacked the national headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. Protesters threw objects at windows and looted the building, making off with office equipment and documents. The health ministry confirmed the deaths of eight people who had been killed in clashes around the headquarters in Mokattam. In Cairo and Alexandra, some police officers wearing their uniforms joined the anti-Morsi protests and chanted : "The police and the people are one".

On 2 July, opponents and supporters of Morsi gathered in the capital, Cairo, as the deadline set by the protest group for him to leave power passed. Helicopters were also present around Cairo with armored vehicles taking up positions.

On 3 July, gunmen opened fire on a Cairo rally supporting Morsi, killing 16 and wounding 200.

Response

External videos
Helicopter view of the millions of protesters

On 1 July, the Egyptian Armed Forces issued a 48-hour ultimatum which gave the country's political parties until 3 July to meet the demands of the Egyptian people. The Egyptian military also threatened to intervene if the dispute is not resolved by then. Four Ministers also resigned on the same day: Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou (who previously offered to resign a few months ago after Morsi appointed an Islamist linked to the group that attacked tourists as governor of Luxor), Communication and IT Minister Atef Helmi, State Minister for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Hatem Bagato and State Minister for Environmental Affairs Khaled Abdel Aal, leaving the government with members of the Freedom and Justice Party.

The next day the newspaper Al-Ahram reported that if there was no resolution the military would suspend the constitution of Egypt and appoint a new council of experts to draft a new one, institute a three-person executive council, and appoint a prime minister from the military. Morsi's military advisor, Sami Hafez Anan, also resigned and said that the army would not "abandon the will of the people."

On 2 July Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr resigned as well in support of the anti-government protesters. The presidency rejected the Egyptian Army's 48 hour ultimatum vowing that the president is sticking with his own plans for national reconciliation to resolve the political crisis. Defense Minister General Abdul Fatah Khalil Al-Sisi was also said to have told Morsi that he would impose a military solution if a political one could not be found by the next day.

Incidentally the Egyptian court of cassation ordered the reinstatement of former general prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud who was replaced with Talaat Abdallah following the constitutional declaration on November 22, 2012. The Presidency spokesman and the spokesman for the cabinet resigned as well.

The BBC reported on 3 July that President Morsi had declared in a late-night television address that he would "defend the legitimacy of his elected office with his life".

International reactions

• United Nations – UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey stated that while most of the protests appear to be peaceful, "the reports of a number of deaths and injuries, of sexual assault against women demonstrators, as well as acts of destruction of property are to be strongly condemned."
• United States – The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, remarked on 1 July in a Press conference in Tanzania that “Our number-one priority has been making sure that our embassies and consulates are protected.  Number two, what we’ve consistently insisted on is that all parties involved – whether it's members of Mr. Morsi's party or the opposition – that they remain peaceful.  And although we have not seen the kind of violence that many had feared so far, the potential remains there, and everybody has to show restraint…"