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Egypt's army gives parties 48 hours to resolve crisis | Egypt's army gives parties 48 hours to resolve crisis |
(35 minutes later) | |
Egypt's army has given the country's rival parties 48 hours to resolve a deadly political crisis. | Egypt's army has given the country's rival parties 48 hours to resolve a deadly political crisis. |
The army would offer a "road map" for peace if Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his opponents failed to heed "the will of the people", it said. | |
It came after protesters stormed the Cairo office of the Muslim Brotherhood, to which the president belongs. | |
Eight people died as the building was ransacked, a day after millions rallied nationwide urging Mr Morsi to quit. | Eight people died as the building was ransacked, a day after millions rallied nationwide urging Mr Morsi to quit. |
He became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. | |
Morsi defiant | |
The head of the armed forces described Sunday's protests as an "unprecedented" expression of the popular will. | |
But in a statement read out by a spokesman on state television on Monday evening, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the army would not get involved in politics or government. | |
The opposition movement behind the protests, Tamarod (Rebel), welcomed the statement, but said it would continue demonstrations to force Mr Morsi out. | |
There were scenes of flag-waving jubilation in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where Tamarod supporters believed the statement spelt the end for a president they accuse of putting the Brotherhood's interests ahead of the country's as a whole. | |
As five helicopters flew over the square with huge Egyptian flags hanging below them, the crowds chanted: "The army and the people are one hand." | |
But a senior member of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) rejected the military statement. | |
"Solutions will be in the framework of the constitution," Yasser Hamza, a member of the FJP's legal committee, told Al Jazeera TV. "The age of military coups is over." | |
The opposition movement had given Mr Morsi until Tuesday afternoon to step down and call fresh presidential elections, or else face a campaign of civil disobedience. | |
On Saturday, the group said it had collected more than 22 million signatures - more than a quarter of Egypt's population - in support. | |
But Mr Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting calls for early presidential elections. | But Mr Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting calls for early presidential elections. |
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad Haddad told the BBC the roadmap referred to by Gen Sisi did not necessarily increase pressure on the president to call early presidential elections. | Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad Haddad told the BBC the roadmap referred to by Gen Sisi did not necessarily increase pressure on the president to call early presidential elections. |
Rather, he said, the pressure was on Egypt's constitutional court to swiftly issue a new parliamentary law and to call for parliamentary elections. | Rather, he said, the pressure was on Egypt's constitutional court to swiftly issue a new parliamentary law and to call for parliamentary elections. |
Meanwhile, the al-Watan website said the ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs had resigned in an act of "solidarity with the people's demand to overthrow the regime". | Meanwhile, the al-Watan website said the ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs had resigned in an act of "solidarity with the people's demand to overthrow the regime". |
US President Barack Obama has called for restraint on all sides, saying the potential for violence remained. | |
Although it was not the job of the US to choose Egypt's leaders, it wanted to make sure all voices were heard, said Mr Obama during a visit to Tanzania. |