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Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi Wins Egypts Presidential Runoff; Celebration in Tahrir Square

11mo ago
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Mohamed Morsi was declared the new president of Egypt on Sunday, following the first democratic election in Egypt's history. The announcement triggered massive cheers and celebratory gunfire in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Authorities had been on "high alert" for potential violence if his rival Ahmed Shafik won. Instead, the huge crowd erupted in celebration -- even in scorching temperatures near 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, had more than 13 million votes, while Shafik -- the last prime minister to serve under ousted president Hosni Mubarak -- had more than 12 million, election officials announced. Morsi ended up with just under 52% of the vote, while Shafik got just over 48%, officials said. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, on Facebook, called the election result a "tribute to the martyrs of our revolution." It vowed, "We will keep walking on the path." The presidency is largely a figurehead position, as the country's military rulers maintain much of the control over the country. Sunday's announcement came after a very long speech by Farouq Sultan, head of the Higher Presidential Election Commission, in which he defended the electoral process and discussed reports of irregularities and how they were handled. Each campaign had accused the other of election fraud.