View Photo Gallery — Protests in Egypt: Tension cut through the streets of Cairo as protesters flooded into rival demonstrations.
By Abigail Hauslohner and Sharaf al-Hourani, Updated: Monday, July 1, 12:54 PM
CAIRO — Egypt’s powerful military issued an ultimatum to the government and its opposition on Monday: resolve the crisis that has pitted hundreds of thousands of President Mohamed Morsi’s opponents against his supporters and brought this country to a political standstill — or the military will announce its own solution.
“The armed forces reiterates its call to meet the demands of the people, and it gives everyone 48 hours as a last chance to carry the burden of the ongoing historic circumstances that the country is going through,” military commander Abdel Fatah al-Sissi said on national television a day after huge crowds of Egyptians took to the streets calling for the president’s ouster.
“If the demands of the people are not met within the given period of time, [the military] will be compelled by its national and historic responsibilities, and in respect for the demands of Egypt’s great people, to announce a roadmap for the future, and procedures that it will supervise involving the participation of all the factions and groups,” Sissi said.
Anti-government activists have called repeatedly on the military in recent days to back them in their struggle against Morsi and his supporters in the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. Many interpreted Sissi’s remarks on Monday as a victory for their cause.
“I think it’s highly unlikely that Morsi will be able to make a deal with the opposition in 48 hours. I don’t think anyone wants to deal with Morsi anymore,” said Wael Nawara, a longtime political activist, and the co-founder of the liberal Dustour party.
“So that effectively means that the military will basically appoint some kind of transition government,” he said.
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