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| Egyptian army gives Morsi 48-hour ultimatum |
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.jpg) CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's powerful armed forces issued a virtual ultimatum to President Mohamed Morsi on Monday, calling on the nation's feuding politicians to agree on an inclusive roadmap for the country's future within 48 hours.
A dramatic military statement broadcast on state television declared the nation was in danger after millions of Egyptians took to the streets on Sunday to demand that Morsi quit and the headquarters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood were ransacked.
"If the demands of the people are not realized within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces)... to announce a road map for the future," said the statement by chief-of-staff General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It was followed by patriotic music.
The people had expressed their will with unprecedented clarity in the mass demonstrations and wasting more time would only increase the danger of division and violence, he said.
The army said it would oversee the implementation of the roadmap it sought "with the participation of all factions and national parties, including young people", but it would not get directly involved in politics or government.
Anti-Morsi demonstrators outside the presidential palace cheered the army statement, and the main opposition National Salvation Front, which has demanded a national unity government for months, applauded the military's move.
It was the second time in just over a week that the armed forces had issued a formal warning to the politicians, and it appeared to pile pressure on Morsi to concede power-sharing with the liberal, secular and left-wing opposition.
After the destruction of its offices, the Brotherhood which operated underground until the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, said it was considering how best to defend itself.
Cities were quiet after Sunday's mass rallies that were bigger than anything seen since the Arab Spring uprising. But the ransacking of the Brotherhood's office highlighted deepening political polarization, prompting the movement to talk of acting in self-defense.
Five non-Brotherhood government ministers tendered their resignations from the cabinet, apparently in sympathy with the protesters, underlining a sense of isolation for the party that won a series of elections last year.
"Both sides are still in their trenches," a senior European diplomat said just before the military statement.
Cairo's Tahrir Square was filling again in late afternoon, with thousands of people gathering for a second day.
For those who declared the protests a continuation of the revolution that toppled Mubarak, images of young men waving national flags at the scorched and shattered windows of the Brotherhood compound recalled the fall of Mubarak's ruling party offices, whose charred hulk still looks out over the Nile.
Eight people died in a night of fighting around the Brotherhood building, where guards fired on youths hurling rocks and fire bombs. A Brotherhood official said two of its members were hurt. Another eight people were killed in clashes around the country on Sunday.
The Brotherhood's official spokesman told Reuters that the attack had crossed a red line of violence and among possible responses might be to revive "self-defense committees" former during the 2011 uprising.
"The people will not sit silent," Gehad El-Haddad said.
Morsi's movement complained at the lack of police protection, which can only heighten its sense of being under siege from both the liberal opposition and state officialdom inherited from the old regime.
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