Morsi Sworn In As Egypt's President

Mohamed Morsi became the first democratically-elected, civilian president of Egypt on Saturday.

Morsi took his presidential oath in front of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court. He would have done so in front of the country's parliament, the Guardian explains, had it not been partially dissolved by the Egypt's military.

The Muslim Brotherhood candidate is now Egypt's fifth head of state since the country's monarchy was overthrown 60 years ago. While Saturday makes Morsi's presidency official, the Islamist took to Tahrir square on Friday to conduct his own swearing-in ceremony, Al Jazeera reports. In Tahrir square, surrounded by tens of thousands of Egyptians, Morsi tried to reassure those who fear an Islamist presidency by speaking of Egypt's artistic and cultural potential.

Then again, he also promised to free Omar Abdel Rahman, a militant Islamist cleric who was convicted of an NYC bomb plot after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. According to the New York Times, Obama administration officials are dismissing the significance of the promise, with one telling the paper that “There is zero chance this happens.”

While Saturday's swearing-in ceremony marks a formal hand-over of power to Morsi and a civilian government, the country still doesn't have a permanent constitution. The SCAF, the military body who ruled Egypt during the transfer of power from Honsi Mubarak to Morsi, have enacted a series of changes to the country's interim constitution that limit the president's power in the country.