European and Middle Eastern leaders provided mixed reactions Thursday to Egypt's political upheaval, with some condemning the army's removal of the president and others arguing that it was more important to back the masses who supported the move, dpa reported.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, however, made clear he was not happy with the role of the Egyptian military.
"Military interference in the affairs of any state is of serious concern and is not consistent with fundamental democratic principles," he said as he called for "calm, dialogue, non-violence and restraint" and a swift return to civilian rule.
Military leaders late Wednesday removed president Mohammed Morsi from office, little more than a year after Egypt's first democratically elected president assumed power.
The move came amid growing domestic concern about the economy and worries that the former member of the Muslim Brotherhood was trying to force the country down a conservative path.
Those concerns had been shared in large parts of the West. But many Thursday stated their opposition to Wednesday's developments.
French President Francois Hollande called Morsi's ouster an "admission of failure" in the country's democratic transition and called for speedy elections.
Speaking in Tunisia, which he praised as "a reference" for the Arab Spring, Hollande said Egyptians' belief in democracy, pluralism and free elections needed to be rekindled.
Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, noted in Brussels that the EU was against military intervention, but said the situation was too fluid for the EU to decide if it would take steps, like reconsidering aid for Egypt.
"I am not aware of any urgent plans to rethink our aid programmes at the moment but ... the dust is still settling on what happened last night," Mann added.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague described an ambiguous situation.
"I always condemn military intervention in a democratic system," Hague told BBC radio. "We have to understand it's a popular intervention, there's no doubt about that in the current state of opinion in Egypt."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle came down firmly against coups. "There is a serious danger that the democratic transition in Egypt has been badly damaged. That could have repercussions far beyond the country, for the entire region."
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the focus had to be on reinforcing democracy rather than getting caught up on definitions of Wednesday's events.
"I don't think the most important thing right now is a theoretical discussion about how to label what has happened, whether it's a coup or not," Rasmussen said.
There were mixed reactions from Egypt's Arab neighbours:
SYRIA: President Bashar al-Assad welcomed what he described as the fall of "political Islam," saying in an interview with the pro-regime al-Thawra newspaper that those who use religion for political interests would fail. Al-Assad, whose forces have been fighting a more-than-two-year uprising against his rule, said Morsi's year in power had revealed "the lies told by the Brotherhood in the beginning of the popular revolution in Egypt."
SAUDI ARABIA: King Abdullah was the first Arab leader to congratulate interim Egyptian president Adli Mansour. "I appeal to Allah to help you shoulder the responsibility to achieve the hopes of the brotherly people of the Arab Republic of Egypt," he said.
TURKEY: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denounced what he described as arbitrary detentions of elected leaders of Egypt. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said in Ankara "the power change in Egypt was not a result of the will of the people. The change was not in compliance with democracy and law."
IRAN: Iran warned against foreign interference in Egypt. "We hope that the democratic process in Egypt will continue," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman. "We hope that, in the current controversial situation, the Egyptian people will halt any foreign and hostile interference in the country."
TUNISIA: President Moncef Marzouki was critical. "We regret the military intervention in the political process," he said and expressed concern for Morsi's welfare. When asked if he thought Tunisia's Islamist-led government could suffer a similar fate, Marzouki said: "I don't think so."