2012-06-30 Vatican Radio

Mohammad Morsi was officially sworn in on Saturday as Egypt’s first president since the former president, Hosni Muberak, was forced out of office 16 months ago.

“I swear by almighty God,” said President Morsi in an oath before Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, “that I will faithfully defend the republican system, and I will respect the constitution and the rule of law, and I will look after the people’s interests fully, and that I will protect the country’s independence and its territorial integrity.”

In a speech delivered to Cairo University later the same day, the president promised to restore the country’s parliament which was dissolved earlier this month. He also emphasized that the army must respect the will of the people.

On the Friday before being sworn in as president, Morsi took a symbolic oath before tens of thousands of supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square where the 2011 uprising began.

President Morsi, who won last Sunday’s run-off election against former prime minister Amhed Shafiq, is the Arab world’s first freely-elected Islamist president and is Egypt’s fifth head of state since the overthrow of the monarchy around 60 years ago.

Listen to Ann Schneible's report here: