Morsi rejects Egyptian army's 48-hour ultimatum

The Egyptian army has given the country's politicians a 48 hours ultimatum to resolve the current political stalemate, further emboldening opponents of Mohamed Morsi, the embattled president, and pushing the most populous Arab nation deeper into uncertainty.

The army statement, delivered on state television on Monday, called on political groups to resolve the situation.

"The armed forces repeat their call for the people's demands to be met and give everyone 48 hours as a last chance," it said. 

"The national security of the state is in severe danger," it added, warning that if there was no resolution the army "will be obliged by its patriotic and historic responsibilities... to announce a road map for the future and the steps for overseeing its implementation, with participation of all patriotic and sincere parties and movements."

It described the mass protests on Sunday that brought out millions of Egyptians demanding President Morsi's resignation as "glorious".

However, President Morsi insisted he will continue with his own plans for national reconciliation, a presidential statement said early on Tuesday.

The army has warned it will intervene if the government and its opponents fail to heed "the will of the people".

However, it denies that the ultimatum amounts to a coup.

Meanwhile, Egypt's state news agency Mena reported early on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had submitted his resignation.

If accepted, he would join at least five other ministers who have already reportedly resigned over the political crisis.

On Sunday, millions rallied nationwide, urging the president to step down.

Large protests continued on Monday, and eight people died as activists stormed and ransacked Cairo's Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, to which the president belongs.

President Morsi's opponents accuse him of putting the Brotherhood's interests ahead of the country's as a whole.

He became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Opponents of Morsi viewed the army statement as an endorsement and continued to flood the streets to press on the president to step down.

Large protests continued on Monday in Cairo, and in cities outside the capital, including Alexandria, Mahalla, Suez and elsewhere.

Morsi supporters criticised the ultimatum as an attempted coup. A group of pro-Morsi parties, calling themselves the "coalition to defend legitimacy," called for mass protests in support of the president during a late-night press conference.

"We reject attempts to use the army to attack the legitimacy of the president," said Safwat Abdel Ghani, a senior member of the Gamaa al-Islamiyya.

Gehad el-Haddad, a senior adviser to the Freedom and Justice Party of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, said the military was trying to paper over its own poor performance during the transitional period after Mubarak's ouster.