Egypt: Morsi's Firing of Military Officials a 'Game Changer' for the Country

August 12, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has officially sacked the defense minister and chief of staff with an order of forced retirement. Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, says that the firing is a "game changer" in Morsi's struggle with the military for control of the country.

(more) (less)

In This Video

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman is an Egyptian Field Marshal and former statesman. He was the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and, as Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was the de facto head of state from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak on 11 Febr... Explore this topic

Egypt

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Most of its territory of 1,010,000 square kilometers lies within North Africa and i... Explore this topic

Mohamed Morsi

Mohamed Morsi is the fifth and current President of Egypt, having assumed office on 30 June 2012. Mohamed Morsi was educated in Egyptian public schools and universities; he was later granted a scholarship from the Egyptian Government to prepare for a PhD degree in the United S... Explore this topic

Sami Hafez Anan

Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Anan or Enan is an Egyptian soldier. He was the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces until his retirement was announced by President Mohamed Morsi on August 12, 2012. From 1990 to 1992 he was the Egyptian Defence Attaché to Morocco. More re... Explore this topic

Politics of Egypt

The politics of Egypt is based on republicanism, with a semi-presidential system of government. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, executive power was assumed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which dissolved th... Explore this topic

President of Egypt

The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt. Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government. The current president is Mohamed Morsi. Explore this topic

Government of Egypt

No description provided Explore this topic

Fawaz Gerges

Fawaz A. Gerges — a Lebanese-born US citizen — is a professor and author with expertise on the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, international relations, Al Qaeda, and relations between the Islamic and Western worlds. He is currently a Professor of Middle East Politics and Int... Explore this topic

Middle East

The Middle East or Mideast is a region that encompasses Western Asia and all of or part of Northern Africa, depending on the context. The term is considered to be Eurocentric and used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East. The corresponding adjective is Middle-... Explore this topic

Egyptian Army

The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces, and is the largest army in the Arab World, and Africa. It is estimated to number around personnel 468,500, in addition 1,000,000 reservists for a total of 1,468,500 strong. The modern army was es... Explore this topic

Also See

Egypt

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi

Mohamed Morsi

Watch Next

2:03

Egypt: Mubarak Retrial Postponed as Judge Walks Out

Al Jazeera English | Apr 13

The retrial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been postponed, possibly for months. The 84-year-old turned up at court, only for the pr...