Egyptian soldiers will no longer swear loyalty directly to the president of the republic, according to a published decree, a symbolic change analysts said underlined the military’s independence from any civilian control.

Officers will vow to “execute the orders of my leadership,” according to the amended oath of allegiance, that removes the phrase: “I will be loyal to the president of the republic.”

The decree was issued on Tuesday, Aug. 27, by interim head of state Adly Mansour, head of the army-backed administration installed by the military, after it deposed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 3.

Meanwhile, Egyptian police captured senior Muslim Brotherhood official Mohamed El-Beltagi on Aug. 28, security sources said, as the military pressed on with a crackdown that has put most of the Islamist group’s top leaders behind bars.

However, Egypt’s new rulers have backed away from a plan to dissolve Muslim Brotherhood. 

Hazem el-Beblawi, the interim prime minister, had proposed on August 17 that the Brotherhood, the Arab World’s oldest and arguably most influential Islamist group, should be dissolved, and said the government was studying the idea.

In an interview with state media on Aug. 27, Beblawi appeared to change his mind, saying the government would instead monitor the group and its political wing and that the actions of its members would determine its fate.