Egypt: President Morsi Rejects Army Ultimatum

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has rejected an ultimatum issued by the country's army threatening to intervene if he does not meet the demands of the people.

It came as US President Barack Obama spoke to the Egyptian leader, urging him to take steps to show he is responding to concerns of protesters - millions of whom took to the streets on Sunday demanding Mr Morsi step down.

At the same time it was confirmed the country's foreign minister, Mohammed Kamel Amr, had resigned.

He is the most senior politician to quit Mr Morsi's government after a series of cabinet ministers stood down on Monday.

The ministerial resignations deal a further blow to the president, who has been warned by the armed forces that he has 48 hours to solve the country's political crisis or face intervention.

Protesters, demanding Mr Morsi quit, camp out overnight in Tahrir Square

But Mr Morsi rejected the ultimatum, insisting he would continue on his path towards national reconciliation. He said the directive "could cause confusion in the complex national environment".

The army statement, read out on television on Monday, said: "If the demands of the people are not met in this period ... (the armed forces) will announce a future roadmap and measures to oversee its implementation."

The statement received a rapturous welcome from Mr Morsi's opponents, still camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Tamarod, the grassroots campaign behind Sunday's massive protests against the president, also hailed the statement by the armed forces which it said had "sided with the people".

It "will mean early presidential elections", Tamarod's spokesman Mahmud Badr said.

Egypt's army issued an ultimatum to Mr Morsi and his opponents

Responding to the army's ultimatum, the presidency also denounced any declaration that would "deepen division" and "threaten the social peace".

Mr Morsi was consulting "with all national forces to secure the path of democratic change and the protection of the popular will".

Referring to the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak, the presidency added: "The civil democratic Egyptian state is one of the most important achievements of the January 25 revolution.

"Egypt will absolutely not permit any step backward whatever the circumstances."

The White House meanwhile said Mr Obama had called Mr Morsi by telephone from Tanzania, during the final stop of his African tour, on Tuesday to express concerns over the escalating political crisis.

Mr Morsi says the army's directive to restore order is 'confusing'

Mr Obama told him Washington, a major military aid donor to Egypt, was committed to "the democratic process in Egypt and does not support any single party or group". 

He added that the "current crisis can only be resolved through a political process".

Sixteen people died in protests on Sunday, including eight in clashes between supporters and opponents of the president outside the Cairo headquarters of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Early on Monday, protesters set the Brotherhood's headquarters ablaze before looting it.

Mr Morsi's opponents accuse him of having betrayed the 2011 revolution that forced Hosni Mubarak from power by concentrating power in Islamist hands, and of sending the economy into freefall.

His supporters say he inherited many problems from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to complete his term, which ends in 2016.

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