Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi wins Egypt presidential vote

By Ramadan Al-Fatash and Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi on Sunday became Egypt's first freely elected president, the election commission said, sparking mass celebrations by tens of thousands of his supporters.

   "I tell everyone on this great day, that with your will I became a president for all Egyptians," Morsi said in a speech broadcast by state television late Sunday, as he tried to reassure women, Christians and those who did not vote for him.

   "Egypt, our beloved homeland, needs our unity," he said. "The revolution continues until all its goals are achieved. Together we continue the journey."

   Morsi said that Egyptians "are all equal in our duties."

   "I understand the challenges ahead, but I am confident we can overcome them," he said.

   He promised to preserve all international treaties. "We come in peace," he said, in reference to the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

   Brotherhood supporters took to the streets across Egypt after official results were announced earlier Sunday.

   Tens of thousands cheered, waved Egyptian flags and set off fireworks to beating drums in Cairo's Tahrir Square, focal point of the popular uprising that forced long-ruling president Hosny Mubarak to step down last year. Demonstrators chanted "Free revolutionaries, we will continue the journey" and "Down with military rule."

   Morsi won 51.73 per cent of the vote in the June 16-17 presidential runoff to beat Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister and a former army general, who had 48.27 per cent, election commission chief Farouk Sultan said.

   Morsi, an engineering professor, became the first civilian president in Egyptian history. All four previous presidents since the 1952 coup were army generals.

   "This is the end of an important phase in the history of building our democracy," Sultan said.

   Tensions rose in the days before the announcement over the army's decision to grant itself sweeping powers following a ruling by Egypt's highest court to void the Islamist-led parliament.

   Under the new rules, Morsi will have to work with the army generals, who have run Egypt since Mubarak's ouster 16 months ago.

   Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling military council, congratulated Morsi, state television reported.

   The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to continue demonstrations in Tahrir Square to protest the army's decision to extend its own powers.

   The military had previously promised to hand power to the new president after the election. Under the new rules, the military would have legislative powers and budget control.

   Unlike under Mubarak's rule, Morsi will have no power to remove members of the military council or appoint new ones.

   Morsi has quit his position as head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which he held since the party was founded last year. The Brotherhood was banned under Mubarak.

   Thousands of Egyptians were celebrating across Egypt, honking cars and singing. In al-Arish city, in the Sinai peninsula, crowds were driving around carrying Morsi's posters.

   Meanwhile, Shafiq's supporters, who gathered outside his campaign office in Cairo, were weeping and shouting anti-military chants.

   "Tantawi has sold our country," one of them kept shouting. Others held their shoes high in contempt as they said "to Morsi and the field marshall."

   "It is time for all Egyptians to work within a national consensus framework to build Egypt, based on freedom and social justice," Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account, congratulating Morsi.

   The Coptic church and the Sunni al-Azhar institution congratulated Morsi and praised the democratic elections.

   US President Barack Obama telephoned with Morsi to offer congratulations, the White House said late Sunday. Obama "underscored that the United States will continue to support Egypt's transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution."

   Obama "emphasized his interest in working together with President-elect Morsi on the basis of mutual respect."

   The US leader also spoke to Shafiq, whom he encourage "to continue to play a role in Egyptian politics by supporting the democratic process and working to unify the Egyptian people."

   Israel said Sunday it respected Morsi's victory and wanted to cooperate with any new administration based on the pioneering peace treaty between the two countries.

   EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton described the election as a major milestone in Egypt's democratic transition and an historic moment for the country and the region. She encouraged Morsi "to reach out to all other political and social groups," the EU said.

   French President Francois Hollande said he hoped that Egypt's transition would continue toward "a democratic and pluralistic political system and a state subject to the rule of law."

   In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist movement Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, celebrated the election results. "The victory of Morsi boosts the programme that rejects the occupation and rejects cooperation and normalization with the occupation," said Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of the Palestinian movement.