Sisi and Mansour sign handover documents

Egypt's new president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and outgoing interim president Adly Mansour signed a power handover document on Sunday in an unprecedented function at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo.

The two men signed the document in the presence of foreign dignitaries who had flocked to Cairo to attend the inauguration of the former army chief as Egypt's new president.

Al-Sisi took the oath of office earlier in the morning before the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Addressing his guests at the presidential palace, al-Sisi described the handover of power from one president to another as a "historic moment."

"We are starting a new chapter in front of the open eyes of the whole world," he added.

Mahmoud Kobeish, the dean of Cairo University's law school, said the handover was happening "for the first time in its history."

"This is so because this is the first time in Egypt's history that an outgoing president meets a new one," he told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Sisi, the former defence minister who won a decisive victory in last month's presidential election, vowed to work hard to bring Egypt back to its traditional position as a regional and international powerhouse and achieve the aspirations of the Egyptian people for a dignified life.

"We will work to push our country forward in order to rectify the mistakes of the past," he said.

"The success of revolutions lies in their ability to transform their ideals into tangible realities on the ground," added the new president.

Al-Sisi was keen to underline Egypt's bonds with Arab and African countries, referring to an initiative put forward by Saudi Arabia for holding a donor conference to help Egypt's economy.

Mansour, for his part, said Egypt was determined to complete its transitional roadmap.

The presidential election is the second step on the roadmap, which was implemented since the army's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July.