EL-SISI SWORN AS EGYPT’S NEW PRESIDENT

President-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi swears in as President in front of Egypt's interim head of state Adly Mansour (C) and constitutional court members in Cairo June 8, 2014 in this handout provided by The Egyptian Presidency (Photo: Reuters) — President-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi swears in as President in front of Egypt’s interim head of state Adly Mansour (C) and constitutional court members in Cairo June 8, 2014 in this handout provided by The Egyptian Presidency (Photo: Reuters)

Cairo, 10 Sha’ban 1435/9 June, 2014 (MINA) – Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was officially sworn in as Egypt’s president on Sunday, becoming the country’s second democratically-elected after Mohamed Morsi who was ousted after El-Sisi announcement on it July, 2013.

During the inauguration, hundreds of El-Sisi supporters rallied at Al-Tahrir Square to celebrate the victory of their idol who has been called by some media as “the coup leader”, as he announced the overthrow of Mursi when he served as Minister of Defense at that time, correspondent of Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) reported from Cairo.

The supporters of El-Sisi bring flags and chanted their support for the military-backed president, while a few days earlier, the National Alliance of Anti-coup called for protests to boycott the inauguration.

The ex-defence minister took the presidential oath at the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) at an event attended by outgoing interim president Adly Mansour, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, Egypt’s Ahram reported.

Morsi was the first Egyptian president to be sworn in at the SCC.

The swearing-in was followed by an inauguration ceremony at Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo’s Heliopolis district in the presence of Arab, African and international leaders and their representatives.

Among the prominent attendees were leaders of Gulf states that strongly supported last summer’s ouster of Morsi and have since showered Egypt with billions of dollars: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman Ibn Abdel-Aziz, the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohamed Ibn Zayed and Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed.

In spite of almost a year-long falling-out between Cairo and Doha – a strong ally to Morsi’s now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood – Qatar’s emir sent a cable congratulating El-Sisi.

Sunday’s ceremony witnessed a low presence of western leaders, who limited their representation to envoys.

One of the exceptions was Russia, which was represented by its Chairman of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin. The US sent Thomas A. Shannon, who serves as Counselor to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Addressing the attendees, El-Sisi expressed his hope for “an internal and external renaissance for the country” and vowed to establish a “strong, just, safe state”.

“The new Egypt will be looking forward to contributing to implementing security and independence for the region,” El-Sisi said.(L/K04/P03/P04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)