Egypt's army chief defends Morsi's removal from power

Egypt's military chief has justified his decision to remove Mohammed Morsi from office, in a televised speech.

Facing unrelenting pressure from Muslim Brotherhood protesters, General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said that the Islamist leader had violated his popular mandate and antagonized state institutions.

The comments by Sissi came for the first time since Morsi's ouster nearly two weeks ago.

According to Fox News, El-Sissi said the armed forces acted to remove Morsi on July 3 as per the will of the people, as the country was moving towards deeper polarization and more violence.

Morsi was the first democratically chosen leader after a narrow victory in elections last year.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad responded to el-Sissi's remarks, saying that the military had no right to act on behalf of the people of Egypt except through 'orders of their elected commander in chief,' meaning Morsi, the report said.

El-Sissi said Morsi 'entered into a conflict with the judiciary, the media, the police and the public opinion. Then (he) also entered into a conflict with the armed forces'.

He said the armed forces took the decision as millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for Morsi to step down over allegations he was abusing his power.

The military chief said he frequently advised Morsi and finally reached out to him before giving him a 48-hour ultimatum to reconcile with opponents and address public demands, the report added.