Mursi rejects Army's 48-hour warning

Army retracts statement, denies coup warning Cairo (PTI): Embattled Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi on Tuesday rejected the Army's 48-hour ultimatum on Monday to resolve the country's deadly crisis, saying he would pursue his own plans for national reconciliation. "The civil democratic Egyptian state is one of the most important achievements of the January 25 revolution," said a statement from the presidency, referring to the 2011 pro-democracy protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak. "Egypt will absolutely not permit any step backward whatever the circumstances." However, the Army claimed on Tuesday that its 48-hour ultimatum for the political powers to reconcile and end the current crisis was not a "coup warning". The statement posted on its Facebook page said, "The creed of the Egyptian Armed Forces does not allow it to perform a coup "d'etat" and that the statement was issued to force politicians to find a speedy solution for the deadlock. The Armed Forces is neither the ruler nor part of the political scene and will not abandon its designated role."

Iran urges respect for 'vote of people' Tehran (AFP): Iran on Tuesday called on the Egyptian military to support national reconciliation and respect the "vote of the people" after it warned it was ready to intervene in Egypt's political crisis. "Mohamed Mursi is the incumbent president based on the people's vote," Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told the official IRNA news agency.

Egyptians' voice must prevail: Obama Dar Es Salaam (AFP): US President Barack Obama called President Mohamed Morsi to warn him that the voices of all Egyptians must be heard as a political crisis escalates. Obama placed the call from Tanzania, on the final stop of his African tour and told him Washington was committed to "the democratic process in Egypt and does not support any single party or group," the official said.

Journo raped, another killed Salah al-Din Hassan, a 37-year-old reporter with independent news website Shaab Masr (Egyptian People), died on Saturday while picking up a bomb hurled at protesters in order to throw it away. But it exploded in his hands. Seven other journalists were injured while covering protests at the weekend. And one 22-year-old female reporter with a Dutch television station was reported to have been raped after being attacked in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The Dutch embassy in Cairo said she had been repatriated.