Morsi sack two top military chiefs and contain violence

The stand off between Morsi and army General to continue and  Egypt faces tough time ahead to settle their goverance issue.Army has introduced constitution to retain more powers in running the government and the elected government needs to turn the table to retain powers.How far this tussel travel,the people of Egypt wait for their elected government to show results.

 Morsi took bold initiative as on Sunday  appointed senior judge Mahmoud Mekki as his vice president,
 Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi as defense minister, the commander of the armed forces, replacing Tantawi. Moris ordered the retirement of the commanders of the Air Force, Air Defense and the Navy,the Army’s chief of staff  too was asked to relieved of duty.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi pronounced Sunday that he was sacking the country’s two top military chiefs, will it be a provocative move that could provoke a backlash from the military amid a contentious debate over presidential powers.

Morsi, the country’s democraticaly   elected president, further announced he was suspending a constitutional decree the country’s generals passed on the eve of his election in June that sharply reduced the powers of the presidency and gave the military vast authority.


Egypt sent hundreds of troops and armored vehicles into northern Sinai to tackle militants operating near the border in an offensive that commanders said has so far killed 20 people.Egyptian security forces on Sunday killed seven Islamists militants in a raid on their hideouts in the strategic northern Sinai Peninsula during a drive to flush the insurgents out of the area.

The violence erupted when security forces raided the hideouts of the militants in al-Goura village in Sheikh Zoweid area in the northern Sinai region that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported.

The bodies of those militants killed and the wounded were taken to the el-Arish Hospital, they said. The militants possessed rocket-propelled grenades, automatic guns and a large number of hand grenades, security sources said, adding they had exchanged fire with the army.

The fresh violence comes days after the start of a military operation in the region against militants who killed 16 Egyptian soldiers last Sunday.Sunday’s clashes took place after armed men attacked several Egyptian army checkpoints.

The Al-Ahram website reported that armed men fired on a checkpoint near the eastern entrance to Sheikh Zuwayed, on the Rafah-Arish international road. Eight armed men fired on another army position on the Arish-Ouja road.

Quoting eyewitnesses it said army forces exchanged fire with the assailants before they fled into a nearby mountainous area after reinforcements arrived.In a separate incident, three policemen were killed and four others injured when their car overturned while chasing suspected militants on the international road in central Sinai, state-run news agency MENA reported.