Egypt makes history as Muslim Brotherhood is announced as winner

Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood made history in Egypt on Sunday as the winner of Egypt’s first competitive presidential election, giving the Islamists both a symbolic victory and a powerful weapon in their struggle for power against the country’s top generals. As an American-trained engineer and former lawmaker, Morsi is the first Islamist elected as head of an Arab state. The 60-year-old is the fifth Egyptian president and the first from outside the military. His victory comes 16 months after the military took over on the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and is a milestone in Egypt’s promised transition to democracy.

Tens of thousands of Brotherhood supporters and their allies congregated in Cairo’s Tahrir Sqaure to listen to the results, chanting “Morsi, Morsi!” as their candidate won 51.7 percent of the runoff votes. By nightfall, beaming Brotherhood supporters swelled the crowd to around 100,000 in the square that started a revolution. “Today, you are the source of power, as the whole world sees,” Morsi said, pointing into the television camera during his victory speech.