CAIRO, July 3: Egypt’s army ousted President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday and declared the head of the constitutional court caretaker leader.

Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al Sisi, the defence minister in Morsi’s government, also announced in an address a freezing of the Islamist-drafted constitution and early presidential elections.

He said a “strong and capable” government would be formed and would have “full capacities”.

The army chief said a panel would be formed to look into amendments to the constitution and a law would be drafted to regulate parliamentary elections.

The army’s dramatic move came after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for Mohamed Morsi’s ouster, accusing him of betraying the 2011 revolution that led to the departure of Hosni Mubarak.

After the announcement, delivered by Sisi in a televised address, Mohamed Morsi denounced the move as “illegal” and urged Egyptians to “peacefully resist the coup as he himself will do”, a senior aide said.

The elected Muslim Brotherhood president, who came to office on June 30 last year, remained out of sight in a Republican Guard barracks surrounded by barbed wire, barriers and troops, but military sources denied media reports that he was under arrest.

“For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: military coup,” Morsi’s national security adviser Essam El Haddad said in a statement, warning of “considerable bloodshed” to come.

Another presidential aide, Yasser Haddara, said his message to supporters was to resist the “military coup” peacefully and not use violence against troops, police or other Egyptians.

In what may have been his last official statement, Morsi’s spokesman said it was better that he die in defence of democracy than be blamed by history.

“It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree,” spokesman Ayman Ali said. “Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life.”

Liberal opponents said a rambling late-night television address by Morsi showed he had “lost his mind”.

The official spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said supporters were willing to become martyrs to defend Morsi.

“There is only one thing we can do: we will stand in between the tanks and the president,” Gehad El Haddad said at the movement’s protest encampment in a Cairo suburb that houses many military installations and is near the presidential palace.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, refused an invitation to meet Gen Sisi before the army chief’s address, saying it only recognised the elected president.

At least 16 people, mostly supporters of the president, were killed and about 200 wounded when gunmen opened fire on Tuesday night on pro-Morsi demonstrators at Cairo University.

The Brotherhood accused police of the shooting. The interior ministry said it was investigating and the governor of Giza province, where the clash occurred, submitted his resignation.

Jubilant crowds across Cairo cheered, chanted pro-army slogans and set off fireworks after the overthrow of President Morsi. Men, women and children waved red-white-and-black Egyptian flags as confetti twirled in the air, protesters stood on each other’s shoulders and families snapped pictures in Tahrir Square, the centre of demonstrations that drew millions out against Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.

CALL TO BATTLE: Military chiefs, vowing to restore order in a country racked by protests over Morsi’s Islamist policies, earlier issued a call to battle in a statement headlined “The Final Hours”. They said they were willing to shed blood against “terrorists and fools” after Morsi refused to give up his elected office.

Armoured vehicles took up position outside the state broadcasting headquarters on the Nile River bank, where soldiers patrolled the corridors and non-essential staff were sent home.

In a show of force, several hundred soldiers with armoured vehicles staged a parade near the presidential palace, and security sources said Morsi and the entire senior leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood were barred from leaving the country.

Security sources said the authorities had sent a list of at least 40 leading members of the Brotherhood to airport police.

In a last-ditch statement a few minutes before the deadline, Morsi’s office said a coalition government could be part of a solution to overcome the political crisis. But opposition parties refused to negotiate with him and met instead with the commander of the armed forces.

As the ultimatum expired, hundreds of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters in Tahrir Square let off fireworks, cheered and waved Egyptian flags in celebration.

The Brotherhood’s Egypt25 television station continued to broadcast live coverage of a rally of tens of thousands of Morsi supporters, even as the army moved tanks into position to prevent them from marching on the presidential palace or the Republican Guard barracks.

Oil prices in the United States rose to a 14-month high above $100 a barrel partly on fears that unrest in Egypt could destabilise the Middle East and lead to supply disruption.

The massive protests showed that the Brotherhood had not only alienated liberals and secularists by seeking to entrench Islamic rule, notably in a new constitution, but had also angered millions of Egyptians with economic mismanagement.

Tourism and investment have dried up, inflation is rampant and fuel supplies are running short, with power cuts lengthening in the summer heat and motorists spending hours fuelling cars. Yet despite Islamist talk of martyrdom and warnings of civil war, the dominant mood in Cairo streets was one of elation rather than foreboding.—Agencies