Egypt army to unveil 'political roadmap' shortly

Egypt army says political roadmap to be unveiled

CAIRO: The army said a roadmap for Egypt's political future will be unveiled at around 1930 GMT on Wednesday, with state media reporting that the plan sets a tight schedule for new elections.

State television said opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei and the heads of the Coptic Church and Al-Azhar -- Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning -- would present the roadmap for the country's future after President Mohamed Morsi.

ElBaradei, Pope Tawadros II and Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb had been in talks with the military over the transition from the rule of the Islamist president, military sources said earlier.

According to the official MENA news agency, the roadmap is to consist of a "short" transition period followed by both presidential and parliamentary elections.

Earlier, the Egyptian military deployed armoured vehicles on Wednesday near Cairo demonstrations by supporters of Mohamed Morsi in Cairo as aides of the embattled president decried a "military coup".

Dozens of armoured personnel carriers headed towards Cairo University where thousands of Morsi protesters massed, vowing to defend his legitimacy.

The official MENA news agency, citing a senior military official, said APCs were also deployed in the capital's Heliopolis and Nasr City neighbourhoods, where other protests were being held.

The army erected barbed wire and barriers around a barracks where embattled President Mohamed Morsi was working and deployed armored vehicles and troops to prevent his supporters marching from a nearby rally to his palace, witnesses said.

The army said in an official statement that it was security the area and denied what it said were reports that it was attacking Morsi's supporters, saying: "The Egyptian army belongs to all Egyptians."

Meanwhile, a top aide to Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi slammed what he called a "military coup" on Wednesday as an army ultimatum passed and the security forces slapped a travel ban on the Muslim Brotherhood leader.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Essam al-Haddad, Morsi's national security adviser, said in a statement on Facebook.

As tension mounted and crowds poured into the streets to demand Morsi's resignation, Haddad said: "As I write these lines I am fully aware that these may be the last lines I get to post on this page."

The announcement came after Morsi proposed a "consensus government" in a last-ditch bid to end Egypt's worst crisis since the 2011 revolution that overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak.

"The presidency envisions the formation of a consensus coalition government to oversee the next parliamentary election," Morsi's office said on Facebook.

Tens of thousands of people massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square for an anti-Morsi protest that dwarfed a rally by the embattled president's supporters in Nasr City, on the opposite side of the capital.

"Come here O Sisi, Morsi isn't my president," the flag-waving protesters chanted in the square, referring to army chief and defence minister, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In scorching heat, police officers handed out bottles of water to the demonstrators crammed around their patrol vehicle in the middle of Tahrir, epicentre of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising in 2011.

The powerful military had issued a 48-hour deadline on Monday for Morsi to meet the "people's demands", a day after millions of protesters took to the streets across the troubled country calling for him to resign.

Thousands of people were also gathered in Nasr City in a show of support for Morsi, despite an attack by a group of men that killed 16 of them and left 200 injured overnight.

That spate of bloodletting took to almost 50 the number of people killed in Egypt since the latest crisis flared a week ago ahead of Sunday's anniversary of Morsi's first turbulent year in power.

The interior ministry warned police would respond firmly to any further violence on Wednesday as the armed forces took up positions around key Cairo installations, including the state broadcaster.

Opponents accuse Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, of having betrayed the revolution by concentrating power in Muslim Brotherhood hands and of sending the economy into freefall.

His supporters say he inherited many problems, and that he should be allowed to complete his term, which runs until 2016.

Ahead of the deadline at 4:30 pm (1430 GMT), General Sisi held talks with top brass, a source close to the army told AFP.

Sisi later went into a meeting with opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, Coptic Christian Patriarch Tawadros II and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.

Also present were representatives of the Salafist Al-Nur party, the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, and members of the Tamarod movement that organised the anti-Morsi protests.

Military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Aly said the armed forces general command had "held talks with religious, political, national and youth leaders" and that it would issue a statement as soon the meeting is over.

In an early morning speech, Morsi said he had been freely elected to lead Egypt a little more than a year ago and intended to stick to his task. The only alternative was more bloodshed, he warned.

Upping the stakes, senior armed forces commanders meeting on Wednesday swore to defend Egypt with their lives, a source close to the military told AFP.

"We swear to God that we will sacrifice our blood for Egypt and its people against all terrorists, extremists and the ignorant," they declared in an oath led by General Sisi, the source said.

Egypt's press predicted Wednesday would be the day of Morsi's departure.

"Today: Ouster or Resignation," splashed the state-owned mass circulation Al-Ahram. "The End," declared the independent Al-Watan.

Aside from Tahrir and Nasr City, Cairo's streets were unusually quiet Wednesday, with many choosing to stay home over fears of more violence.

"The Morsi supporters declared war on the rest of the population yesterday. I'm very scared," said resident Soha Abdelrahman.

Developments in Egypt hit world financial markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking past solid American employment data to register a 0.19 percent fall and New York crude hitting a 14-month peak on concerns the crisis could spread and disrupt supplies.

All eyes were on the military, after government daily Al-Ahram reported details of the its roadmap for the future.

The plan provides for an interim administration, of up to one year, which would include the head of the supreme constitutional court and a senior army figure.

The constitution, controversially approved by Morsi's allies in December, would be suspended for up to 12 months while a new one was drawn up and put to a referendum, before presidential and legislative elections. (AFP)