Morsi victory celebrated from Yemen to Gaza

Cities across the Arab world celebrated Mohammed Morsi's victory as Egypt's first president-elect after the January 25 revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood candidate received several congratulatory messages, from the heads of Middle Eastern states as well as officials and political figures in Egypt. Tens of thousands crowded the Yemeni capital's Change Square, and other Yemeni cities. The crowd were seen screaming and singing popular songs while fireworks lightened the sky. The revolutionary groups organised a rally which marched in the main streets of Sanaa, including the southern neighbourhoods for the first time since the Yemeni uprising broke out. Those in the rally held up posters of Mors and flags of the Arab Spring states; Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia. The revolutionary youth in Yemen believe that Morsi's victory is a boost to their own uprising, as the Islamist defeated the former regime-linked candidate Ahmed Shafiq. Many Yemenis take this as a sign that the aspirations of the pro-Ali Abdullah Saleh [Yemen's former president] officials to regain their powers will fail to materialise. Others said Morsi's victory killed the last hopes of the ousted regimes in the Arab Spring states to return to power. Sudan's state-run news agency SUNA meanwhile reported that President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday evening phoned Morsi, and congratulated him for his electoral victory. Similar phone calls and messages were received by Morsi from the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Morocco and Libya. In the Palestinian Territories, Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh and President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Morsi on his victory in Egypt's presidential elections on Sunday. Haniyeh phoned Morsi to congratulate him, and supporters marched to the prime minister's home in Gaza City to celebrate the victory. "We will look to Egypt to play a big, leading role, a historic role, regarding the Palestinian cause, in helping the Palestinian nation get freedom, return home, and completely end the Gaza siege," said Haniyeh. In the streets of Gaza, the scene resembled the jubilation that greeted Hamas's victory in Palestine's 2006 elections, as thanksgiving sermons and calls of "Allahu Akbar" echoed from mosques across the enclave and sweets were handed out in the street. One man was killed and five injured in celebratory gunfire, a spokesman for Gaza's Health Ministry said. Israel is at war with the Brotherhood’s Palestinian offshoot Hamas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he “respected” the result and expected to continue cooperation under the peace treaty. Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated Egyptians over the victory of Mursi in the country’s first free presidential election and said the country was in the final stages of an “Islamic Awakening,” the daily al-Masry al-Youm reported. “The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran congratulates the victory of the Egyptian nation in these elections and the presidency of Doctor Mohammed Morsi,” it said in a statement on the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). “The revolutionary movement of the Egyptian people ... is in its final stages of the Islamic Awakening and a new era of change in the Middle East.” “The historic Egyptian nation, with their responsible participation in the momentous election have again proved their determination to realise the noble and justice-seeking ideals of the great revolution of Egypt with a splendid vision of democracy,” the ministry said. The interim head of the Coptic Church, many of whose faithful have feared the rise of Islamists, also congratulated Morsi, according to AFP. UN leader Ban Ki-moon called on him to build strong, independent institutions and develop democracy and the European Union called on him to reach out to all other political and social groups. Palestine's ambassador to Cairo Barakat al-Farra and President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas also phoned Morsi to congratulate him on his presidency. Abbas, who has pursued stop-start peace negotiations with Israel, had warm words for the Muslim Brotherhood, calling Morsi "the choice of the great people of Egypt". Hamas, Fatah's longtime rival, has close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, as the Islamist group based in Egypt shares ideological roots with Hamas, but  Fatah leader Amin Maqbou said he hoped Egypt will support the Palestinian rights "and treat all sides equally." Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide and negotiator, said the democratic vote for Morsi "meant the Palestinian cause was the number one priority for all Egyptians". However, Erekat said Palestinians had to heal the five-year-old and sometimes bloody schism between Hamas and Fatah. "Regardless of who the Egyptian president is, Palestinian reconciliation is a Palestinian matter, and if we do not help ourselves, no one will," Erekat said. As for Egypt itself, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military junta, and his deputy, Lieutenant General Sami Anan, the Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff , congratulated Morsi for being declared Egypt’s first elected president after an inconic revolution that helped sparked protests across the Arab world. Interim Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri said he wished Morsi "luck and success". The elected president himself vowed to be a servant of the people, and a representative for all factions of Egyptian society. "I will not betray this country," Morsi wrote on his first tweet as president. "A tribute to Egypt’s just, honest judiciary and to the brave army and policemen who protected the democratic process. Congratulations to the people,” he added. Former presidential candidates Amr Moussa, Hamdeen Sabbahy, and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh all congratulated Morsi, along with his final rival Ahmed Shafiq, who sent him a message saying: "Mr Mohammed Morsi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, it is for my pleasure to congratulate you for your victory in the presidential elections. I wish you the best of luck in the hard mission you are assigned to by the great people of Egypt." Meanwhile, another former presidential contender, Khaled Ali, said that Ahmed Shafiq’s defeat was a defeat for the Mubarak regime. "The revolution continues," Ali posted on Twitter. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Sunday in the largest celebration the protest hub has witnessed since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, to celebrate their new elected president. As a military helicopter hovered above the huge square, revelers set off fireworks and women ululated for what the crowd said was a victory for their revolution. At a podium, leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood joined with leftist supporters of the Islamist president-elect and cheered on the crowd. "The revolution will be victorious," Abdel Halim Qandeel, a leftist activist, roared to the crowd. "One hand," the crowd chanted back. In Tahrir, Islamist politician Safwat Hegazi yelled from the podium "Ululate, o martyrs' mothers." Cars and microbuses jammed with Morsi’s supporters carrying his posters raced to the square. "This is a proof that the revolution has won, not the Brotherhood. It is the revolutionaries who voted for him, not only the Brotherhood supporters," a man said. Across the city, passengers in cars and on motor bikes sounded their horns, waved Egyptian flags and chanted "Morsi, Morsi." The situation in Shafiq's camp was completely the opposite. Ahmed Shafiq’s campaigners were shocked, dismayed and in utter disbelief after the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission’s announcement that Morsi had won the runoff in the presidential election. Shafiq's 12,374,380 votes, or 48.3 percent fell short of Morsi's 13,230,131, or 51.73 percent. Before the announcement, the campaigners had no doubt that their candidate was the winner of the presidential elections. Women broke into tears, while some fell to the ground. One campaigner fainted after screaming hysterically upon the news of Shafiq's defeat. Another snapped at, attacked and insulted a journalist in anger. "They sold us to the Muslim Brotherhood," a campaigner screamed. "Everyone sold us. We knew that we are the winners. The SPEC, the SCAF, and security [apparatus] assured us that we were the winners," he added. "The Brotherhood won't leave us, we are now officially called 'foloul' [former regime remnants]," he concluded. Ahmed Sarhan, the Shafiq campaign's spokesman, was nowhere to be found after the announcement for any official reaction.