Egypt’s historic day in pictures

The passion and the pain, the joy and the heartbreak as a new, uncharted era begins in Egyptian politics

After months of campaigning, weeks of voting, days of controversial delay, and hours of suspense, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi was declared the next president of Egypt. As the news was released Cairo erupted in celebration, but for others, the result spelled bitter disappointment.

Egyptian protesters celebrate the victory of Mohammed Morsi, in the country's presidential election, in Tahrir Square in Cairo.(photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

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Supporters of Mohammed Morsi celebrate the victory of their Islamic candidate.(photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

“Congratulations because this means the end of the Mubarak state,” said Shady el-Ghazali Harb, a prominent activist who was among the leaders of the protests in January and February last year.

An Egyptian protester flashes the victory sign as he celebrates the victory of Mohammed Morsi of the presidential election in Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 24, 2012. (photo credit: AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

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When news of Morsi's victory was released celebrations erupted across the captial. (photo credit: AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

Naguib Sawiris, a Coptic Christian business tycoon who joined a liberal bloc in voicing opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood a day before the results were announced, said he expects the new president to send a reassuring message to Egypt’s Christian minority who represent around 10 percent of the population of 85 million.

“There are fears of imposing an Islamic state … where Christians don’t have same rights,” Sawiris told the private TV station CBC. Morsi “is required to prove the opposite. … We don’t want speeches or promises but in the coming period, it is about taking action. … He was not our choice but we are accepting it is a democratic choice.”

Egyptian protesters celebrate the victory of Mohammed Morsi, in the country's presidential election, in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Sunday, June 24, 2012. Mohammed Morsi was declared Egypt's first Islamist president in a race that raised political tensions in Egypt to a fever pitch.(photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

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An Egyptian woman cries in Tahrir Square as the country awaits the outcome of a presidential runoff vote in Cairo. Tens of thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have rallied in the capital's Tahrir Square in a show of force backing candidate Mohammed Morsi, who has warned against manipulating results in a vote that he said he predicted he had won. (photo credit: AP/Manu Brabo)

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Tahrir Square filled with hundreds of thousands of people Sunday after the announcement of the victory, crowds which had not been seen there since the salad days of the revolution. (photo credit: AP/Ahmed Gomaa)

Khaled Abdel-Hamid, a leading leftist politician, said Morsi must fight to get his powers back or he will lose any popular support he may have garnered.

“If he fights to get his power back, we will support him. But if he doesn’t fight back, then he is settling for siding with the military,” he said.