A military coup is underway in Egypt, according to Mohamed Morsi’s national security adviser and a Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson. Security forces have placed a travel ban on Morsi and a number of top Brotherhood officials.
Security sources told media that authorities had sent a list of at least 40 leading members of the Brotherhood to airport police.
Egyptian troops, including commandos, are deploying at key sites and intersections throughout Egypt, including Suez and the highway to Alexandria. Several hundred soldiers, together with armored vehicles are taking part in a military parade on the road near the presidential palace, a witness told media. The army reportedly erected barbed wire and barriers around the barracks where Morsi was working.
National security adviser Essam El-Haddad said that “no military coup can succeed in the face of sizeable popular force without considerable bloodshed.” He added that he expects army and police violence to remove pro-Mursi demonstrators from the streets of Cairo.
Troops have moved into place near the Rabaa Adaweya mosque area, where tens of thousands of supporters of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood are rallying in support of the president, a media journalist reported. But the Egyptian army denied that it was moving in on Morsi supporters, saying “The Egyptian army belongs to all Egyptians.”
A presidential aide said it was unclear if the president would be free to leave later to return to the palace. He added that Morsi’s message to all Egyptians is to resist the military coup peacefully without using violence.
