July 3, 2013 - 12:04PM
Cairo: Tension is mounting in Egypt just hours before the expiry of the military's ultimatum demanding President Mohamed Mursi share power with political opponents.
Clashes involving security forces and supporters of Dr Mursi near Cairo University, in Egypt's capital, have left at least 16 dead and 200 injured, state television quoted a health ministry spokesman as saying.
The price of preserving legitimacy is my life
Earlier, in a televised address at midnight, Dr Mursi urged Egyptians not to attack the army, police or each other. He also said there was no substitute for constitutional and legal legitimacy.
An opponent of President Mursi chants slogans during a protest outside the presidential palace. Photo: AP
"The price of preserving legitimacy is my life," Dr Mursi said in an impassioned, repetitive, 45-minute ramble. "Legitimacy is the only guarantee to preserve the country."
The speech contained only passing reference to the army, with Dr Mursi pledging to continue to carry out his democratic duties.
Arrest call
Dr Mursi on television. Photo: AP
Opponents want Dr Mursi to step down after he rejected the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the army on Monday to agree to the "people's demands" or face an imposed solution.
That ultimatum is due to end at 4.30pm local time on Wednesday (12.30am, Australian eastern standard time Thursday.)
Dismissing the claims to legitimacy that Dr Mursi made in his televised address, the "Tamarud - Rebel!" movement said in a statement: "The only response to Mursi's speech is to protest on the streets in our millions, starting on Wednesday, so that he and his group hear the voice of the great Egyptian people."
Protesters shout slogans and wave flags in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: AP
"Not only are we calling for his departure but we call for him and his group to be sent for trial. We call on the Republican Guard to arrest Mohamed Mursi and send him for trial immediately," the group said.
Protests
Earlier on Tuesday, the Egyptian presidency's official Twitter feed declared: "President Mohamed Mursi asserts his grasp on constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to deviate from it, and calls on the armed forces to withdraw their warning and refuses to be dicatated to internally or externally."
Opponents of Dr Mursi hold a large Egyptian flag outside the presidential palace in Cairo. Photo: AP
The public statements came as opponents and supporters of Dr Mursi again poured onto the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities.
Dr Mursi and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have held a second round of talks to "discuss the current crisis," a military source said.
Gunfire, teargas
Violence later flared between supporters of Dr Mursi and security forces at Cairo University early on Wednesday, witnesses said.
The witnesses said they heard gunfire and saw teargas being used by the authorities. Thousands of Islamists had gathered in a square in front of the main university building earlier in the evening to protest against the military's ultimatum.
Witnesses heard shotgun and rifle fire and teargas enveloped the area. Television pictures showed ambulances taking away casualties, small fires burning and hundreds of men, many with the beards typical of Dr Mursi's Islamist supporters, some of them weeping and others chanting slogans.
Some held up rifle and shotgun cartridges to the camera. Another man waved his bloodied hand.
Earlier clashes left at least seven dead. Violence in Cairo’s Giza neighbourhood also injured dozens, ‘‘some of whom are in a critical condition from bullet wounds,’’ medical sources told AFP.
Most businesses remained closed and very few cars were on the streets, as tensions soared ahead of the Wednesday deadline set by the army, which the president's supporters have condemned as a coup threat.
Bloodbath fears
A senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood called on its supporters to be ready to sacrifice their lives to prevent an army takeover, recalling that hundreds had died during the 2011 revolution that ousted veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.
‘‘Seeking martyrdom to prevent the ongoing coup is what we can offer as a sign of gratitude to previous martyrs who died in the revolution,’’ said Mohammed el-Beltagy, the general secretary of the Brotherhood’s political front, the Freedom and Justice Party.
Essam el-Erian, a member of the Brotherhood’s ruling Guidance Council, warned that there could be a bloodbath.
‘‘There have already been 16 killed in the last two days,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph. ‘‘If they want to continue with this plan, there will be far more victims, because this will be the victims confronting the people.’’
The main opposition coalition said it was ready to join the urgent talks on a negotiated transition called for by the army and named former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei as its chief negotiator.
The June 30 Front called for mass protests to keep up the pressure on Dr Mursi and tens of thousands packed into Cairo's Tahrir Square and the large avenues outside the capital's two presidential palaces.
Chants of "leave" rang out from the crowds.
Rebuff
The mood contrasted with the tension that had gripped protesters camped out in Tahrir earlier in the day after Dr Mursi's office issued a statement rebuffing the army's ultimatum .
Backers of the president joined a sit-in in his support in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood, as hundreds more gathered near Cairo University vowing to defend his legitimacy.
In a statement issued overnight, the presidency insisted it would continue on its own path towards national reconciliation.
The army declaration had not been cleared by the presidency and could cause confusion, it said.
In a military communique read over state television on Monday that echoed the announcement toppling Mubarak two chaotic years ago, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces demanded that Dr Mursi satisfy the public's demands within 48 hours or the generals would impose their own "road map" out of the crisis.
In a sternly worded statement issued after 1am Tuesday, moreover, Dr Mursi's office said that it was continuing with its plans for dialogue and reconciliation with its opponents.
Noting that it was not consulted before the military made its statement, Dr Mursi's office asserted that "some of its phrases have connotations that may cause confusion in the complicated national scene" and suggested that it "deepens the division between the people" and "may threaten the social peace no matter what the motivation."
'Listen to the people'
Egypt's leaders must respect the views of the Egyptian people, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a call with Egypt's foreign minister on Tuesday, according to a State Department spokeswoman.
In the call, Kerry told Mohamed Kamel Amr: "It is important to listen to the Egyptian people," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in a briefing.
"Democracy is about more than just elections. It's about ensuring that people can have their voices heard peacefully," Ms Psaki added.
The call was made amid reports that Egypt's foreign minister had resigned.
Earlier, Barack Obama had a telephone discussion with Dr Mursi as the US president wrapped up a visit to Africa.
"The United States is committed to the democratic process in Egypt and does not support any single party or group," the White House quoted Mr Obama as saying.
He stressed that "democracy is about more than elections," the statement said, and encouraged Dr Mursi to demonstrate "that he is responsive to the concerns of the protesters."
He underscored that the crisis "must be resolved through a political process."
AFP, New York Times, Reuters, The Daily Telegraph
