According to Reuters and Egypt’s state news agency, we are to hear an announcement within the hour on the post-Morsi ‘roadmap’ for Egypt to be presented by one-time UN diplomat and now opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and Pope Tawadros, head of the Coptic Church. Various generals and opposition figures are also, reportedly, to be on hand.
The emphasis on sectarian unity is unmistakable. Al-Azhar began as a madrasa more than 1000 years ago and now is a combination mosque, madrasa and university. The key point is that it is widely considered to be the most authoritative/revered home of religious scholarship in Sunni Islam. The Copts, who’ve been under siege for the last two years, also get high billing.
As we’ve seen over the last few days, while this is by many definitions undoubtedly a military coup of some sort, it’s not the traditional type. And most notably, Morsi’s rule seems not so much to have been toppled by main force as simply crumbled from within. He and his advisors already this morning seemed to be in control of virtually none of the state structure. Not the Army, the Interior Ministry, state media or much of anything else.
