Adly Mansour Is Sworn In as Egypt's Interim President

CAIRO—Adly Mansour, Egypt's new interim president, swore the oath of

office in front of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Thursday

morning, formalizing a whirlwind insurrection that brought millions of

Egyptians onto the streets and overturned an Islamist president that

only days ago had seemed immutable.



Mr. Mansour swore his oath hours after Egyptian security forces moved

briskly to arrest and detain hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood

leaders—the powerful Islamist organization that has dominated Egyptian

elections over the past two years.



Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's ousted president, was reportedly in police

custody on Thursday morning after he refused to step down from his

post on the orders of Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on Wednesday night.

Mr. Mansour took two oaths on Thursday morning: The first made him

chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court and the second

elevated him to the presidency.



Mr. Mansour has been the head of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court

since Monday, but the court's own swearing-in ceremony was delayed for

several days due to massive street protests against Mr. Morsi's rule.



The leader of Egypt's military ousted Mr. Morsi from office and

replaced him with Mr. Mansour late Wednesday evening. The presidential

palace immediately branded the move a "complete military coup."



The announcements capped days of political crisis that brought

millions of Egyptians out to the country's streets, spurring bellicose

rhetoric from Mr. Morsi's backers and Egypt's military, and sparking

deadly violence. Ten people were killed and 481 injured in clashes

around the country on Wednesday, the health ministry said.



Two years after the biggest tremor of the Arab Spring ousted Hosni

Mubarak, and a year after his elected replacement took office,

Egyptian streets again thronged with protesters calling for the

removal of a despot, the stark divides between their celebration and

anger suggesting a new period of political uncertainty lies ahead.



Egypt's acting attorney general on Thursday issued arrest warrants for

Muslim Brotherhood supreme leader Mohamed Badie and his deputy Khairat

al Shater on charges of inciting the killing of protesters, according

to MENA, the state news agency.



The two are wanted on charges of inciting the killing of eight

protesters in front of the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo.

The prosecutor's decision came after eyewitnesses in the neighborhood

said they were able to testify against the Brotherhood leaders,

according to MENA.



The military overthrow poses a new challenge for Washington. The U.S.

has a deep relationship with Egypt's military, which is budgeted to

receive some $1.3 billion in U.S. aid this year. But congressional

legislation demands the U.S. suspend assistance to allied militaries

that are certified as having overthrown democratically elected

governments.



Two powerful U.S. senators on a visit with troops in Afghanistan on

Thursday affirmed that continued assistance from Washington would

hinge on a swift restoration of civilian rule.



"We view with great concern the events that are taking place in

Egypt," said Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.). "I believe that the defense

minister and the military have to show us and the world that they are

making a rapid transition back to democracy. And that will be, I

think, the indicator to the level of support that we would provide to

Egypt."



Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who serves on the Senate

Appropriations Committee, said the Egyptian military had to abide by

the rule of law as a condition of aid.



"If the democratically elected government is overthrown by the

military, you would suspend all assistance," he said. "It looks like a

coup, it sounds like a coup, but I'm in the camp with Sen. McCain:

Let's look and see how this unfolds."