Egyptian Army Gives 48-Hour Ultimatum To Rival Parties To Resolve The Political Crisisd

Egypt's army has given the country's rival parties 48-hours to resolve the deadly political crisis. It wopuld offer its own 'road map' if Islamist president Muhammad Morsi and his opponents failed to heed"thewill of the people" it said. It came after protesters stormed the Cairo office of Muslim Brotherhood, to which the president belongs. Eight people died as the building was ransacked, a day after millions of people rallied nationwide urging Mr Morsi to quit. Dr Morsi became the Egypt's first Islamist president on June 30, 2012, after winning the election considered fair and free folllowing the 2011 revolution that toppleed Hosne Mubarak. The head of the armed forces described Sunday's protests as "unprecedented" expression of the popular will. But in a statement read out by a spokeman on state television, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said the army would not involve ib politics or giovernment. There were scenes of flagwaving jubilation in Cairo'sTehrir Square, where Tamarod sduppoprters believed tyhe statement spelt the end of a president they accuse of putting the Brotherhood ointerests ahead of the country's as a whole. As the five helicopters flew over the square with huge Egyptian flags hanging below them, the crowd chanted,'THe army and the people asre one hand'. But a senior member of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party (FJP) rejected the military statement.