Mohammad Morsi promised a "new Egypt" as he took the oath of office Saturday to become the country's first freely elected President, succeeding Hosni Mubarak who was ousted 16 months ago, according to a report of the Associated Press. He took the oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court's 18 black-robed judges. "We aspire to a better tomorrow, a new Egypt and a second republic," Morsi said during a solemn ceremony shown live on state television. "Today, the Egyptian people laid the foundation of a new life - absolute freedom, a genuine democracy and stability," said Morsi, a 60-year-old U.S.-trained engineer from the Justice and Freedom Party. Hundreds of soldiers and policemen guarded the building as Morsi arrived shortly after 11 a.m. local time (9 a.m. GMT) in a small motorcade. "Egypt today is a civil, national, constitutional and modern state," Morsi told the judges in the wood-paneled chamber where he took the oath of office. "It is a strong nation because of its people and the beliefs of its sons and its institutions." Morsi later traveled to Cairo University where he was to make his inauguration address. He was given an official welcome by an army band that played the national anthem as he stood to attention. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of the Egyptian Military Council was in attendance. Morsi took a symbolic oath on Friday in Tahrir Square.
