Egypt's President Says He Will Not Step Down, Calls on Military to Withdraw Ultimatum [View all]

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Source: Associated Press / Reuters

EGYPT'S MORSI DEFIANTLY SAYS HE WON'T STEP DOWN

By HAMZA HENDAWI and MAGGIE MICHAEL
— Jul. 2 5:19 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — With the clock ticking, Egypt's besieged president said Tuesday that he will not step down as state media reported that the powerful military plans to overturn his Islamist-dominated government if the elected leader doesn't meet the demands of the millions of protesters calling for his ouster.

Mohammed Morsi's defiant statement sets up a major confrontation between supporters of the president and Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control by his Muslim Brotherhood as well as his failure to introduce reforms more than two years after the revolution that ousted his autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

Writing Tuesday on his official Twitter account, Morsi said he "asserts his adherence to constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to breach it and calls on the armed forces to withdraw their ultimatum and rejects any domestic or foreign dictates."

The leaking of the military's so-called political road map appeared aimed at adding pressure on Morsi by showing the public and the international community that the military has a plan that does not involve a coup.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/egypt-edge-after-armys-ultimatum-president