Cairo (CNN) — Egypt’s military leaders declared Wednesday the army “will sacrifice our blood” to defend the country just hours after President Mohamed Morsy refused to bow to their ultimatum that he find a solution to the deadly unrest sweeping the country or be pushed aside.
The statement posted on the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces came as the clock ticked on the military’s plan to suspend Egypt’s constitution, dissolve the Islamist-led parliament and sideline the president, if Morsy does not find a way to end the unrest, military sources told Arab media and Reuters.
“We swear by God that we are ready to sacrifice our blood for Egypt and its people against any terrorist, extremist or fool,” said the statement, which was titled “The Final Hours.”
The military has given Morsy until 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET ) to come up with a power-sharing agreement or face a military solution, the sources said.
Morsy refused to bow to the ultimatum, setting the stage for a possible showdown.
In a televised speech late Tuesday, Morsy declared he was elected president in balloting that was free and representative of the will of the people.
“The people of Egypt gave me the mandate for president. They chose me in a free election. The people created a constitution which requires me to stay with the constitution,” he said. “I have no choice but to bear responsibility for the Egyptian constitution.”
The conflict pits Morsy’s supporters — the Muslim Brotherhood — against an opposition angered by what they say is the president’s failure to take steps to improve conditions more than two years after a popular revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak,
Showdown? Egypt's Morsy defies military 'ultimatum'
Cairo (CNN) -- Bloodshed intermingled with blood oaths early Wednesday in Egypt.
Opponents and supporters
of President Mohamed Morsy clashed violently at Cairo University,
killing at least 16 people and wounding 200 more late Tuesday and early
Wednesday, according to the state-run EgyNews agency.
Egypt's army "will
sacrifice our blood," its leaders vowed Wednesday to defend the country
just hours after President Mohamed Morsy refused to bow to an ultimatum
they issued two days before: Find a solution to the deadly unrest
sweeping the country or be pushed aside.
The statement posted on
the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
came as the clock ticked on the military's plan to suspend Egypt's
constitution, dissolve the Islamist-led parliament and sideline the
president, if Morsy does not find a way to end the unrest, military
sources told Arab media and Reuters.
"We swear by God that we
are ready to sacrifice our blood for Egypt and its people against any
terrorist, extremist or fool," said the statement, which was titled "The
Final Hours."
The military has given
Morsy until 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET ) to come up with a
power-sharing agreement or face a military solution, the sources said.
Morsy refused to bow to the ultimatum, setting the stage for a possible showdown.
In a televised speech
late Tuesday, Morsy declared he was elected president in balloting that
was free and representative of the will of the people.
"The people of Egypt gave
me the mandate for president. They chose me in a free election. The
people created a constitution which requires me to stay with the
constitution," he said. "I have no choice but to bear responsibility for
the Egyptian constitution."
The conflict pits
Morsy's supporters -- the Muslim Brotherhood -- against an opposition
angered by what they say is the president's failure to take steps to
improve conditions more than two years after a popular revolution that
ousted Hosni Mubarak.
Morsy
gave no indication of stepping down, sharing power or calling early
elections, saying he was calling on the military to withdraw its
ultimatum and return to its rightful work.
In Morsy's place, the
military has said it would install an interim council, made up mainly of
civilians, until a new constitution can be drafted and a new president
elected, the sources said.
It was unclear what
steps the military would take given Morsy's refusal to meet its
Wednesday evening deadline. The military has previously stopped short of
saying that it was suggesting a coup.
The ultimatum was meant
to push all factions toward a national consensus; the armed forces
aren't looking to be part of the political or ruling circles, a
spokesman, Col. Ahmed Ali, said Monday in a written statement.
While insisting they
want no direct role in national politics, the military leaders appeared
to be pressuring Morsy to restructure his government.
The steps could include
reducing the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in his Cabinet and
calling early presidential and parliamentary elections, a source close
to highly placed members of Egypt's leadership told CNN.
The news
came as reports surfaced of clashes between anti-Morsy protesters and
Morsy's supporters in Cairo where anti-government demonstrators took to
the streets for the third consecutive day calling for the country's
first democratically elected president to step down.
Conflicting casualty
reports Tuesday afternoon and into the evening put the death toll across
Egypt anywhere from two to seven people killed and 144 wounded,
according to Arab media and sources. CNN could not confirm the casualty
counts.
The growing unrest
prompted U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to urge Morsy to
call early elections, while warning the Egyptian military that it risked
losing U.S. aid if it carried out a coup, senior administration
officials told CNN.
On Facebook, Morsy's
Islamist-backed Freedom and Justice Party called for several nationwide
rallies to support the leader. Thousands of his supporters poured into
the streets in a Cairo suburb and at Cairo University.
Clashes were reported in
at least one Cairo suburb between anti-government demonstrators and
pro-Morsy protesters, according to Arab media.
Anti-Morsy protesters
have gathered in huge numbers outside a presidential palace where Morsy
has been working in recent days. They also have taken to other main
squares in cities nationwide.
It was not clear whether Morsy was in the palace.
The anti-government
group Tamarod, or "rebel," said in a posting on its Twitter account that
Morsy "has no option but to leave" along with the prime minister and
the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament.
In the face of the
anti-government protests, which began over the weekend, five ministers
announced their resignations Monday. The latest was Foreign Minister
Mohamed Kamel Amr, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency reported.
Thousands demonstrate
Demonstrations continued
Tuesday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where thousands of anti-Morsy
protesters had massed, cheering as Apache helicopters buzzed the crowd.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which has been closed since June 30, will remain closed on Wednesday.
The UK was warning
against all but essential travel to Egypt, and Canada said it was
closing its embassy until further notice "for security reasons."
Although the U.S. is urging Morsy to call new elections, it did not say Morsy should step down immediately, the senior Obama administration officials said.
"We are saying to him,
'Figure out a way to go for new elections,'" a senior official said.
"That may be the only way that this confrontation can be resolved."
The officials said nothing in the Egyptian constitution gives Morsy the authority to call for new elections but said that may be the only way to end the crisis.
A State Department
spokeswoman, however, denied the assertion. "The reports that we have
been urging early elections are inaccurate," Jen Psaki told reporters.
The officials said the
United States has also warned the Egyptian military that a coup would
trigger U.S. legislation that calls for cutting off all American aid.
Psaki acknowledged that "there are conditions on aid," but said, "That's way ahead of where we are in the process."
On
Monday, Obama encouraged Morsy in a telephone call to ensure that his
government represents all Egyptians, "including the many Egyptians
demonstrating."
Morsy's government has insisted that its decisions are legitimate, because it was democratically elected.
Obama addressed this argument directly in his conversation with Morsy.
"He stressed that democracy is about more than elections," the statement said.
Obama reiterated to
Morsy that the United States does not support any party or movement in
Egypt, it said. He called for an end to violence on all sides and
expressed particular concern about sexual assaults on women.
State-funded Egyptian
daily Al-Ahram has reported 46 sexual assaults during anti-Morsy
protests in Egypt since Sunday, citing the volunteer group Operation
Anti-Sexual Harassment.
A Dutch journalist was
reportedly raped Friday while covering protests, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said. She was hospitalized and underwent surgery
before flying back to the Netherlands.
Over the weekend, an
Egyptian journalist died in a bomb attack on a Muslim Brotherhood
office; four other local journalists were beaten and their camera
equipment destroyed or stolen. Two Egyptian journalists were wounded by
shotgun fire.
Morsy's failings
Morsy, a U.S.-educated
Islamist, was elected Egypt's president in June 2012, but critics say he
has become increasingly authoritarian during his year in power.
And he has failed to revive Egypt's economy, which crashed when the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak drove tourists away.
That has disaffected
many of his supporters among Egypt's poor and middle classes, said Fawaz
Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of
Economics.
"That some of the
revolutionaries are calling on the army to return to politics is a
testament to how polarized Egypt is a year after the election of Morsy,"
Gerges said. "Think of the millions of people who cheered Morsy after
his election. Think of the millions of Egyptians who pinned their hopes
on Morsy.
"A year later, now, the millions of Egyptians who cheered for Morsy are saying he must go."
Gerges questioned
Morsy's ability to continue to lead but said he doubted the military
would depose him. Such a move "would plunge Egypt into a greater legal,
political and institutional crisis," he said.
The military will want
to see the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood reduced in government and
in the constitution, Gerges said.
Mubarak had long repressed the Islamic political movement, but it is now the nation's most powerful political force.
Anti-government
demonstrators say they have collected 17 million signatures -- 4 million
more than the number who voted Morsy into the presidency -- calling for
him to go.
The opposition comprises
various groups and loose coalitions, some of which are loyal to the
ousted Mubarak government, while others want the army to intervene.
AbdulMawgoud Dardery, a former member of parliament and a Muslim Brotherhood
representative, told CNN's "Amanpour" that the military could be an
"honest broker" in a national dialogue. He said Morsy has reached out to
opposition leaders many times, but the opposition "is afraid of
democracy."
"It failed in the
previous five elections we had in Egypt since the revolution, and they
don't want to fail a sixth time," he said. "That's why they're going to
street politics."
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