Further SCAF resignations in old guard purge

Another Egyptian general seems to have resigned as the country's military recovers from an unprecedented upheaval that saw its defence minister and chief-of-staff sacked by President Mohammed Morsi. Major General Hassan El-Roweiny formally resigned from Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) late Tuesday citing "personal reasons",  reported the state-run Ahram Online. El-Roweiny is the sixth member of SCAF to leave their post either forcibly or through their own choice. The Major General did not provide further details about why he resigned except in a statement to the Egyptian ONA news agency where he stated: "I tendered my resignation for personal reasons." El-Roweiny had been the commander of Egypt's Central Military Zone. The role included deploying Egyptian troops in the streets during last year's Tahrir Square uprising, to quell the revolution as the police withdrew across the country. After Hosni Mubarak's ousting, El-Roweiny was seen by many revolutionaries, as anti-revolutionary and as being responsible for the deaths of rebels as he ordered the army to combat the protestors which lead to violent clashes between the two groups. The Security Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) assumed executive power following the revolution and attempted to dissolve parliament to prevent the appointment of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi to the position of president following Egyptian elections. Morsi  recently cancelled a SCAF designed constitution amendment which gave the armed forces a separate a superior power to elected officials. Combined with the force resignations of longstanding military leaders such as Army Chief-of-Staff Sami Anan and General Commander Hussein Tantawi, many have seen this week's actions as a purge of the pre-revolutionary old-guard of military leadership. Morsi also retired on Sunday the commanders of Egypt's air forces Reda Hafez, naval forces Mohab Memish and air-defence forces Abdel Aziz Seif El-Din. He repositioned the first two to civilian posts, while Seif El-Din was not granted a new position. Later, on Tuesday, the president appointed Major General Abdel Moneim Ibrahim as commander of Egypt's air-defence forces, Brigade Admiral Osama Ahmed El-Gendy as navy commander, and Major General Younes Hamed as air force commander.