LATEST FROM EGYPT: Crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood sweep country as interim prez is sworn in
CAIRO — A senior judge was sworn in as Egypt’s interim president Thursday to replace ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi as the military launched a major crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood. Reeling from what it called a military coup against democracy, the group said it would not work with the new political system.
The sweep against the Brotherhood leadership included the group’s top leader, a figure venerated among its followers, General Guide Mohammed Badie. He was arrested late Wednesday from a villa where he had been staying at a Mediterranean coastal city and flown by helicopter to Cairo, security officials said.
The move against the Brotherhood raises deep questions over how Islamists will fit into Egypt’s new political system after the military on Wednesday swept out Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president. The military is installing a new civilian leadership to pave the way to new elections, saying it will stay out of politics.