Egypt's army commander and Islamist President Mohamed Morsi each pledged his life to defy the other as the hour approached on Wednesday that will trigger a military takeover that was prompted by mass demonstrations.
The military chiefs issued a call to battle in a statement headlined "The Final Hours." They said they were willing to shed blood against "terrorists and fools" after Morsi refused to give up his elected office. Morsi said, "The price … is my life."
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, seen in this July 2012 photo, says elections were free and represent the will of the people. (Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press) As a mass of revellers in Cairo's Tahrir Square feted the army for saving the revolutionary democracy won there two years ago, supporters of the president's Muslim Brotherhood denounced a "military coup." Some clashed with security forces at Cairo University, where 16 people died and about 200 were wounded.
Military sources told Reuters the army had drafted a plan to sideline Morsi and suspend the constitution after a 5 p.m. deadline passes. Co-ordinated with political leaders, an interim council would rule pending new elections. The sources would not say what was planned for an uncooperative president.
Facing the expiry of a 48-hour ultimatum set by the head of the armed forces that he should agree a power-sharing deal with his rivals, Morsi broadcast a defiant, if somewhat rambling, address to the nation to defend his "legitimacy" — a word he used repeatedly in the course of 45 minutes.
Liberal opposition leaders, who have vowed not to negotiate with Morsi since the ultimatum was issued, immediately denounced his refusal to go as a declaration of "civil war." The youth movement that organized the mass protests urged the Republican Guard to arrest Morsi immediately and present him for trial.
Three hours after his midnight television appearance, the military high command responded with a post on its Facebook page. The post said they, too, were willing to lay down their lives to defend their position — one which they described as defending the Egyptian people from "terrorists, radicals and fools."
A military source said the message came from General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the armed forces commander appointed by Morsi last year, who issued the ultimatum to politicians on Monday.
It was posted on the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF. It entered history books as Egypt's ruling institution after the army pushed aside Hosni Mubarak in the Arab Spring uprising of early 2011.
"It is an honour for us to die rather than that anyone should terrorize or threaten the Egyptian people," it said. "We swear to God, we will sacrifice even our blood for Egypt and its people to defend them against any terrorist, radical or fool.
Calls for holy war
The army has taken its cue from the millions who rallied on Sunday to call for Morsi's resignation as he completed a year in office. It appears to have only enhanced the high regard in which the military is held by most Egyptians by its action.
But as well as listening to the voice of protesters, the army also appears to have had its own concerns about the way Morsi was leading the country — notably about his alliances with more radical Islamist groups and recent association with sectarian calls to holy war in Syria.
The opposition say offers by Morsi to include them have been made in bad faith by a leader beholden to a religious movement intent on entrenching its power and Islamic ideas forever. The Brotherhood calls them bad losers who do not grasp democracy.
The military says Morsi and the opposition must resolve the crisis or it will impose its 'road plan for peace.' (Suhaib Salem/Reuters) Sisi, a 2006 graduate of the U.S. Army War College, has insisted he is not seeking power in the long term. Many believe the armed forces — with their extensive economic interests and generous funding -- when they say they have no political ambition.
The United States has urged compromise. It has funded the army for decades, since long before the fall of Mubarak in 2011, as a key part of helping secure Washington's ally Israel. Morsi aides have said they believe a coup would need U.S. support.
Washington has also defended the legitimacy of Morsi's election to lead the biggest Arab nation, as part of a strategy of promoting democracy in the Middle East since the Arab Spring.
President Barack Obama told Morsi by telephone that talks with opponents were needed. Morsi said on Twitter that he would not be "dictated to internally or internationally."
A senior European diplomat said world powers would have no choice but to condemn the military removal of an elected head of state, even if the generals have support on the streets.
In his television address, Morsi warned that any deviation from the democratic order approved in a series of votes last year would lead Egypt down a dangerous path.
It was unclear who fired at whom or who started the violence at Cairo University. Muslim Brotherhood supporters angrily held up rifle and shotgun cartridges after scenes of mayhem, shrouded in teargas. State television quoted a health ministry official as saying 16 people died and about 200 were hurt.
That made it by some way the bloodiest incident in several weeks of street fighting. Eight people were killed the previous day during a siege of the Brotherhood's national headquarters and the movement has said it is under attack from hired "thugs" left over from the days of Mubarak's secret police.
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