The top judge of Egypt's
constitutional court, Adli Mansour,
is to be sworn in as interim leader,
hours after the army ousted
President Mohammed Morsi.
Army chief Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi
announced the move in a TV address
on Wednesday evening, in what Mr
Morsi said was a military coup.
Gen Sisi said Mr Morsi, Egypt's first
freely elected leader, had "failed to
meet the demands of the people".
The move comes after days of mass
rallies against the Islamist president.
Protesters accused him and the
Muslim Brotherhood of pursuing an
Islamist agenda for the country and
of failing to tackle Egypt's economic
problems.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Cairo
says the president had appeared to
protesters to be economically out of
his depth, and had not given them
the reassurances they wanted that he
could address rampant poverty.
Mr Morsi's opponents celebrated
through the night in Cairo's Tahrir
Square, as the army announced it
had suspended the constitution and
pledged to hold new elections.
But clashes erupted overnight
between Morsi supporters and the
security forces in Cairo and
Alexandria, leaving seven protestors
dead. A further 10 deaths have been
reported in confrontations in other
parts of the country.
Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for
Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, told
the BBC the ousted leader had been
put under house arrest and the
"entire presidential team" was in
detention.
Mr Haddad's father, senior Morsi
aide Essam el-Haddad, and Saad al-
Katatni, head of the Brotherhood's
political wing, are among those held.
The state-run al-Ahram newspaper
reported that arrest warrants had
been issued for 300 leaders and
members of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
US President Barack Obama has said
he is "deeply concerned" by the
latest turn of events and called for a
swift return to civilian rule.
'Do not respond'
The removal of the president
followed four days of mass protests
against Mr Morsi and an ultimatum
issued by the military, which expired
on Wednesday afternoon.
In his televised speech, Gen Sisi said
the armed forces could ignore the
call of the Egyptian masses.
He spoke of a new roadmap for the
future, and said Mr Mansour would
be given the task of "running the
country's affairs during the
transitional period until the election
of a new president".
Mr Mansour, currently chief justice of
the Supreme Constitutional Court, is
scheduled to be sworn in as head of
state at around 10:00 (08:00 GMT).
The army moved quickly after Gen
Sisi's speech, with military vehicles
seen fanning out across the capital.
TV stations belonging to the
Brotherhood went off air and state
news agency Mena said managers at
the movement's Misr25 channel had
been arrested.
A notice on Mr Morsi's Facebook
page condemned the "military
coup".
The statement asked Egyptian citizens
to "abide by the constitution and the
law and not to respond to this
coup".
Mr Morsi, who had pledged his life to
defend constitutional legitimacy,
accused the army of "taking only one
side".
In Tahrir Square thousands of anti-
Morsi protesters celebrated with
fireworks and honking car horns.
One protester, Omar Sherif, told AFP
news agency: "It's a new historical
moment. We got rid of Morsi and the
Muslim Brotherhood."
The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Cairo
says no-one knows what will happen
next. The danger, he says, is that
both sides will try to settle
differences by bringing supporters
on to the streets.
The army has said it will not allow
that to happen but, our
correspondent says, it will not be
easy to stop.
After Gen Sisi's address, both Pope
Tawadros II - the head of the Coptic
Church - and leading opposition
figure Mohammed ElBaradei made
short televised speeches about the
new roadmap for Egypt's future
which they had agreed with the
army.
Mr ElBaradei said the roadmap
aimed for national reconciliation and
represented a fresh start to the
January 2011 revolution.
"This roadmap has been drafted by
honourable people who seek the
interests, first and foremost, of the
country," added Pope Tawadros.
Opposition leader and former Arab
League chief Amr Moussa told AFP
that consultations for a government
and reconciliation "will start from
now".
Discontent
Mr Morsi became Egypt's first Islamist
president on 30 June 2012, after
winning an election considered free
and fair following the 2011 revolution
that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
However his term in office was
marred by constant political unrest
and a sinking economy.
The mass protests at the weekend
that led to the army's intervention
were called by the Tamarod (Rebel)
movement, in response to worsening
social and economic conditions.
But there has been a growing sense
of discontent since last November,
when Mr Morsi issued a controversial
constitutional declaration granting
himself extensive powers.
His moves to entrench Islamic laws
and concentrate power in the hands
of the Muslim Brotherhood also
alienated liberals and secularists
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