MILITARY COUP underway in Egypt, TANKS DEPLOYED in Cairo as MORSI REMOVED from POWER!




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A military coup is under way after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi refused to resign , according to reports.
The military moved to tighten its control of key institutions and slapped a travel ban on Mr Morsi and top allies in preparation for an almost certain push to remove the Islamist president with the expiration of an afternoon deadline. 

Just before the military's deadline expired, Mr Morsi repeated a vow not to step down, and one of his top advisers said Egypt is experiencing a military coup.

Army troops backed by armour and including commandos have deployed across much of the Egyptian capital, surrounding protests by the president's supporters, and at key facilities and major intersections.

Associated Press reporters in various part of Cairo say the troops, backed by armoured personnel carriers and in full combat gear, have deployed on strategic bridges and near protest sites by supporters of the embattled president.

A travel ban was put on Morsi and the head of his Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, as well as Badie's deputy Khairat el-Shater, according to officials at the airport, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. 
For the second time in 2 years of political upheaval, the army appears to be positioned to remove the country's leader. But this time, it would be ousting a democratically elected president, the first in Egypt's history — making its move potentially explosive. 
Soon after the deadline passed, a military helicopter circled over the anti-Morsi crowds in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, which was transformed into a sea of furiously waving Egyptian flags. "Leave, leave," they chanted to Morsi, electrified as they waited to hear of an army move. 




Millions were in the main squares of major cities nationwide, demanding Morsi's removal, in the fourth day of the biggest anti-government rallies the country has seen, surpassing even those in the uprising that ousted against his autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak. 




The military on Monday had given Morsi an ultimatum to meet the protesters' demands within 48 hours, or it would intervene and impose a plan to suspend the constitution, dissolve parliament and replace him with a civilian leadership council. That deadline expired Wednesday afternoon. 




Morsi's Islamist supporters have vowed to resist what they call a coup against democracy, and have also taken to the streets by the tens of thousands. At least 39 people have been killed in clashes since Sunday, raising fears of further bloodshed. 




Earlier in the day, the head of the army met with leading reform advocate Mohammed ElBaradei, Egypt's top Muslim cleric — Al-Azhar Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb — and Coptic Pope Tawadros II to discuss its political road map, a spokesman for the senior opposition National Democratic Front, Khaled Daoud, said on state TV. 




Also attending were a representative of the new youth movement behind this week's protests and some members of the ultraconservative Salafi movements, a Defense Ministry official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. 




In a last-minute statement before the deadline, Morsi again rejected the military's intervention, saying abiding by his electoral legitimacy was the only way to prevent violence. He criticized the military for "taking only one side." 




Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Gehad El-Haddad took to Twitter and argued that there had been four attempts to elect a parliament "all derailed by a corrupt judiciary that is still a stronghold of old regime".




He also confirmed that the Freedom and Justice Party had rejected a meeting with ElBaradei and the head of the Sisi army. He suggested the military are trying to propose Elbaradei as a figure of unity.




He added: "Military is not a political actor 2 negotiate anything. It belongs in the barracks under leadership of its commander in chief
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