Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Leader arrested

CAIRO - The chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was sworn in Thursday as the nation's interim president, taking over hours after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and launched a major crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi hails.

Egyptian Muslim brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie attends a news conference at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Cairo, in this December 26, 2011 file picture. [Photo/Agencies]

In the highest profile arrest since Morsi's ouster, security officials said that Mohammed Badie, supreme leader of the Brotherhood, was arrested late on Wednesday in the Mediterranean coastal city of Marsa Matrouh, where he has been staying in a villa owned by a businessman with Brotherhood links.

He was flown to Cairo on a military helicopter, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. He, and his powerful deputy, Khairat el-Shater, are wanted for questioning on their role in the killing this week of eight protesters in clashes outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

Morsi himself, the Brotherhood veteran who a year ago became Egypt's first freely elected president, has been held in an unknown location since the generals pushed him out Wednesday.

The Brotherhood announced it would boycott the new military-sponsored political process and called on its supporter to restrain themselves and not use violence.

"We declare our uncompromising rejection of the military coup staged against the elected president and the will of the nation and refuse to participate in any activist with the usurping authorities," said the statement, which the group's mufti Abdel-Rahman el-Barr read to the Morsi's supporters staging a days-long sit-in in Cairo.

Morsi's successor, judge Adly Mansour, took the oath of office at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state television. According to military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected. A date for that vote has yet to be set.

Dressed in a dark blue suit and a sky blue tie, Mansour used his first remarks as interim leader to praise the massive street demonstrations that led to Morsi's ouster. He hailed the youth behind the protests that began on June 30 and brought out millions around the country.

June 30 "corrected the path of the glorious revolution that took place on January 25," he said, referring to the revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak that began January 25, 2011 and led to his ouster 18 days later.

"The most glorious thing about June 30 is that it brought together everyone without discrimination or division," he said. "I offer my greetings to the revolutionary people of Egypt."