Millions of Egyptians waited eagerly for the Armed Forces statement yesterday as the 48-hour ultimatum given by the military to end the current political impasse in the country ended. The Armed Forces have been supporting the millions of Egyptians who took the streets on 30 June, the first anniversary of Mohamed Morsi's presidency. Yesterday, Defence Minister General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with his top commanders then with opposition leader Mohamed Al-Baradei, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb and Patriarch of the Coptic Church Pope Tawadros and other political and youth figures hours before the 48-hour deadline. The army invited the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafist Nour Party, but both declined the invitation. The hours-long meeting came after the Armed Forces issued a statement headlined “The final hours”. They said they were willing to shed blood against “terrorists and fools” after Morsi refused to give up his post as president when he spoke to the nation on Tuesday night. The military's roadmap, to guide the country during yet another transitional stage following the 2011 revolution, revolves around a new interim leadership, the Islamist-backed constitution suspended and the Islamist-dominated parliament dissolved. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces reiterated it will not rule this time, as it did following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, but will provide a roadmap and safeguard the country's national security. When the army issued an ultimatum on Monday giving political forces 48 hours to find a way out of the current crisis after which it will impose its own roadmap to fulfil the people's demands the statement was greeted with enthusiasm, raising expectations that Morsi would step down as president within hours. The rest of the statement, in which the army pledged that it would not be a party to government or the political process seemed designed to reassure that the military authorities had learned the lessons of the transitional phase following the fall of Mubarak and would not make the same mistakes in the post-Morsi period. In the opinion of former deputy chief of the General Intelligence Service (GIS) Hossam Kheirallah, the army statement was “clear and revealing”. He said that the Muslim Brotherhood regime had ignored all the many opportunities for reconciliation given to it and deafened its ears to the demands of millions of citizens. This, he argued, had put paid to the legitimacy of the president and the 48-hour ultimatum was simply a mechanism to give Morsi time to work out a formula for stepping down. A second statement issued on the same day indicating that the army had no intention of staging a coup against legitimacy put a damper on the expectations fostered by the earlier statement. The first statement was issued following a meeting of military leaders in the operations room at the General Command headquarters. The meeting was attended by General Al-Sisi and Chief of Staff General Sidki Sobhi. The statement was read by an officer and the recording delivered to the Maspero television and radio building for broadcast. The video featured a photo of General Al-Sisi to convey that this was a message from him to the Egyptian people. Following the broadcast President Morsi summoned Al-Sisi to an urgent meeting that was also attended by Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. A reliable source in the presidential palace said that the meeting was held under tight security to ensure that there would be no leaks and that an air of panic and confusion was palpable everywhere. The source points out that the statement issued by the presidency in response to the army's ultimatum was at once guarded and revealing. The statement posted on the presidency's Facebook page stated that the president had not received any notice of the first army statement which contained “unacceptable implications”. According to the source it was soon obvious that there was an attempt to field a compromise that would see Morsi remain in office while the government was dismissed and replaced by one supervised by the army and backed by guarantees that there would be a genuine pursuit of consensus. Several sources confirm that the US has been exercising considerable pressure on the army command to back down and refrain from political involvement. What they say is corroborated by a presidential spokesman who, on the presidency's webpage, revealed the substance of the phone call between Barack Obama and Morsi and stated that the exchange was indicative of Washington's support for Morsi. Muslim Brotherhood official Essam Al-Erian conveyed the same message. Meanwhile, a lengthy meeting of Muslim Brotherhood leaders ended with the decision to launch a rumour campaign to the effect that the army was plotting a “soft coup” against the president. Immediately Muslim Brotherhood supporters began to rattle sabres in defence of the president and the Islamist project. An official of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Al-Ahram Weekly: “We know Al-Sisi has his eye on the president's chair. It is clear that the army is thirsty for power. It is clear from the recent meetings how difficult it is for the army to accept many of the positions adopted by the presidency.” In a similar vein, Al-Erian charged that the army made a mistake in issuing a statement that overstepped the presidency. The army rejects these claims. Military expert General Gamal Mazloum told the Weekly that the army was simply defending national security and claims it was seeking to stage a coup against the regime were unfounded. “The opposite is the case. The army has fully supported the regime throughout the past year in spite of insults hurled at it by Islamists.” General Talaat Mussallam agrees. He argues that the army statement gave political forces a 48-hour grace period in order to “prepare their cards so it would not have to impose an agenda”. “The army issued the appropriate statement at the right time. It wants to lay the foundations for the forthcoming transitional period after first signalling its full support for the people and their desire to change the regime as demonstrated by the unprecedented turnout in the streets. This is not an encroachment on the presidency. It is support for the people. It cannot be described as a coup.” Fighting has already erupted between pro- and anti-Morsi camps in Mahalla Al-Kubra, Suez and 6 October city. Such incidents will further electrify the climate and lure the army into side battles. This is the impression given by Ahmed Ismail, a Salafi in the pro-Morsi camp. “We will sacrifice our lives in order to protect legitimacy. We will show everyone now and in the future the power of the Islamic giant.” His words echoed speeches delivered by Morsi's supporters on the stage erected in front of Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City. No one at the pro-Morsi rally questions the coup conspiracy theory in which the army is in league with the GIS and military intelligence. Many also include the police among the conspirators, claiming they cleared the way to permit the burning of the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters. All scenarios are possible in the tug-of-war between a president determined to cling to power and an army siding with a people demanding change. “We have to realise that the army has placed its faith with the street rather than with those who want to turn Egypt into Afghanistan,” says General Mazloum. “The people must realise that the battle is about to begin. It did not end, as many think, with the army statement. They must realise that their political woes will end only by confronting the fascist forces that are preparing for urban warfare.” Quantities of arms have already been confiscated, says Mazloum, and intelligence reports confirm that there are those who support Morsi and who thirst for violence. “I am particularly worried,” he says, “that jihadists who support Morsi will enter the field. The current phase will not be easy. All political forces and people pressing for change and the departure of the president must stay in the squares. This is what will fortify them.” Mansoura's prosecutor-general told the Weekly that his office had received a case referral from the military prosecutor's office concerning a shipment of missiles allegedly destined for Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Mansoura. While the case raises the spectre of battles involving more than conventional weapons the confiscated shipment confirmed the vigilance of the security agencies. It is now clear the relationship between the army and the presidency has reached a point of no return. The army has come down squarely on the side of the people. But the horizons are far from clear, and the spectre of violence instigated by extremist preachers bent on inciting sectarian hatred by charging that Copts have masterminded a revolution against Islam looms. We have already seen examples of this in the statements and sermons of Al-Gamaa Islamiya and Jihad preachers in Assiut. The tragic consequences of their exhortations to hate will further compound the dilemmas facing the army.
