Army must protect nation after purge: Egypt president

Egypt's new president has ordered the army to concentrate on "protecting the nation" after he ruthlessly purged the high command, dismissing seven generals including the military chief.

At a stroke, President Mohammed Morsi inflicted the biggest blow against the army's political power since the "Free Officers" established the officers' dominance by toppling the monarchy in 1952. The biggest casualty of the purge was Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who served as defence minister for the deposed president Hosni Mubarak for 20 years.

Morsi tried to preserve the field marshal's dignity, awarding him a medal and special payment. Addressing the nation, Morsi said: "The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms,". His goal was "the benefit of this nation and its people".

From now on, the armed forces would concentrate on "the holy mission of protecting the nation". The army seems to have accepted the purge, perhaps fearing popular anger at any defiance. Newspapers described it as a "revolution".

Al-Akhbar, a Cairo daily, said the president had won the struggle for power between the Muslim Brotherhood and the army that has defined Egyptian politics since Mubarak's downfall last year.