Tense Egypt Awaits Army Move After Deadline

Army-imposed ultimatum to resolve political stalemate due with roadmap suggesting draft constitution would be scrapped.

Egypt is bracing for a showdown between the military and President Mohammed Morsi, who has rejected an army ultimatum to end a political crisis with his opponents, vowing to stay in office.

The ultimatum expires at 4.30pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

Earlier, the army leaked details of a roadmap that includes overthrowing Morsi, scrapping a draft constitution and forming a government of independents headed by an army general.

The army has said it had to intervene after unprecedented rallies by million of Egyptians at the weekend to demand Morsi step down.

Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood group, has vowed to stay in office at any cost .

“Egyptians across the country and even Egyptians outside the country watching from afar are incredibly worried about the situation in their country,” said Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

“This is probably the most critical point in Egypt since former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011.”

Intense rhetoric

Sixteen people were killed and more than 200 were injured in clashes between Morsi’s opponents and supporters in Cairo overnight.

Opposition groups accuse Morsi of focusing on cementing the Brotherhood’s grip on power and failing to improve economic and social conditions more than two years after the revolution that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down.

The al-Ahram newspaper reported that the military roadmap to end the crisis also includes drafting a new constitution and setting dates for new presidential and parliamentary elections.

“My life is the price for protecting the legitimacy,” Morsi said in a televised speech late on Tuesday.

“If my blood was the price to maintain legitimacy, then I am ready for this for the sake of this nation’s stability.”

The chief of Egypt’s armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, offered a similar commitment.

“We swear to God that we will sacrifice our blood for Egypt and its people against all terrorists, extremists and ignorant” groups, a statement posted on Facebook attributing the chief said.

“The general commander of the armed forces said it was more honourable for us to die than to have the people of Egypt terrorised or threatened.”

Al-Ahram also reported that some Brotherhood leaders have been put under house arrest, a highly unpopular measure used by the Egyptian military and police under Mubarak.

Morsi’s supporters say the army’s ultimatum amounts to a coup.

Al Jazeera