By HAMZA HENDAWI and MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press
CAIRO – Egypt’s military moved to tighten its control of key institutions Wednesday and slapped a travel ban on President Mohammed 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, Morsi repeated a vow not to step down, and one of his top advisers said Egypt is experiencing a military coup.
For the second time in 2 1/2 years of political upheaval, the powerful 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.