The head of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has been sworn in as interim president, and prosecutors have ordered the arrest of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a day after the military ousted elected president Mohammed Morsi from power.
The country's official news agency says Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater are being sought for the killing of eight protesters in clashes outside the group's Cairo headquarters.
Badie and el-Shater are widely regarded as the source of real power in Egypt during rule of Morsi, who was supported by the Brotherhood.
The news agency's Thursday report gave no further details, but Badie and el-Shater are on a wanted list of more than 200 Brotherhood members and leaders of other Islamist groups. Former president Morsi is under house arrest.
The state newspaper said arrest warrants had been issued for 300 Brotherhood members. CBC reporter Nahlah Ayed, reporting from Cairo, said some have already been arrested.
"Clearly, it's a pretty strong clampdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and certainly one that is likely to eventually draw some kind of reaction," Ayed said.

New interim leader sworn in

Earlier Thursday, Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour took the oath in a small room surrounded by just a handful people in the Cairo court beside the Nile, replacing Egypt's first freely elected leader after just a year in office.

EGYPT ON EDGEKey players, Cairo flashpoints, major developments

The judge and now interim leader, speaking on live TV, praised the protesters who began holding massive demonstrations four days ago in a bid to oust Morsi, saying they had united Egyptians.
"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."
Ayed said that the new president saluted protesters, youth, and the military. The military were notably absent from the ceremony.
"He said that the Egyptian people have proved to the world that they do not bend. He declared the era of dictators in Egypt over."
Mansour's short speech was met with long applause and cheering in the chamber where the oath took place, she said.
In sparsely populated Tahrir Square — the epicentre of both the country's 2011 revolution and this week's protests — Egyptians reacted to the swearing in with honking and fireworks. Military jets with contrails in the colours of the Egyptian flag flew overhead.
The country's stock exchange also showed positive returns, with an eight per cent jump by late morning local time.
Ayed said Mansour is not well known to the outside world, but known to Egypt. A lawyer, he became head of the constitutional court a few months ago.
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. Morsi is under house arrest at an undisclosed location.

EGYPTZOOM: Massive crowds gather in Tahrir Square

He was ousted after the military's 48-hour ultimatum to share power or step down expired Wednesday afternoon local time. CBC's Derek Stoffel, also in Cairo, reported that Egypt's health ministry says 10 people were killed and 481 injured in clashes after the coup, meaning around 50 people have been killed since the new round of protests began.
Ayed said there is a sense of urgency in the country and that new elections could happen quickly, within a few months.

'Will of the people'

The clock started ticking for Morsi when millions took to the streets on Sunday to demand he resign a year after he was elected. They accused his Muslim Brotherhood of hijacking the 2011 democratic revolution, entrenching its power and failing to revive the economy.
That gave armed forces chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who already had his own reservations about the state of the nation under Morsi, a justification to invoke the "will of the people" and demand the president share power or step aside.
The United States and other Western allies had also pressed Morsi hard to open his administration to a broader mix of ideas.
Morsi denounced the military's actions as a "full coup."
Before his ouster, Morsi railed on television about his electoral legitimacy. He called his liberal opponents bad losers, in league with those secretly still loyal to Mubarak. Liberal leaders said he was "losing his mind" and met to agree on a plan with Sissi.
Adly Mansour, Egypt's chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, attends his swearing in ceremony as the nation's interim president.Adly Mansour, Egypt's chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, attends his swearing in ceremony as the nation's interim president. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
What was unveiled by the general, in full uniform, flanked by politicians, officers and clergy, was a road map to wipe clear a slate of messy democratic reforms enacted since Mubarak fell.
An interim government will be formed, along with a panel for national reconciliation. The constitution will be reviewed, presidential and parliamentary elections arranged.
There was no timetable. Liberal chief negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei, a former UN nuclear agency chief, said the plan would "continue the revolution" of 2011. Many hope they can have more electoral success than last year, when the Brotherhood's organization dominated the elections.

Canada reacts

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s press secretary issued a statement on Wednesday, saying "Canada urges all parties in Egypt to remain calm, avoid violence and engage in meaningful dialogue.
"Canada firmly believes that implementing a transparent democratic system that respects the voices of its citizens, and that encourages and respects the contributions of civil society and all other segments of the population, including religious minorities, is the best way to restore calm and give all Egyptians a stake in the future stability and prosperity of Egypt."
U.S. President Barack Obama was cautious in his response, acknowledging the "legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people" while also observing that Morsi, an Islamist, won his office in a legitimate election.
He notably stopped short of labelling Morsi's ouster a coup, leaving himself some wiggle room to navigate a U.S. law that says its government must suspend foreign aid to any country whose elected leader is ousted in a coup d'etat.
David Jacobson, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, told CBC News that the most important thing is that the U.S. supports inclusive, democratic governments.
"We hope that there will be no violence, we hope that there will not be unnecessary arrests, and we hope that an inclusive, democratic government will be re-installed as soon as possible," Jacobson said.
  • Brotherhood clash
  • Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi clash with riot police during the swearing in ceremony of the head of Egypt's Constitutional Court Adli Mansour as the nation's interim president in Cairo on July 4. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
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With files from Reuters and The Associated Press