This image made from video broadcast on Egyptian State Television shows President Mohammed Morsi addressing the nation in a televised speech on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. 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. Credit: AP
CAIRO (TheBlaze/AP) -- Egypt's embattled president says he will not step down as demanded by millions of protesters, vowing to protect his "constitutional legitimacy" with his life.
Addressing the nation in a speech carried live on state television late Tuesday, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi accused loyalists of his predecessor Hosni Mubarak of riding the current wave of protests to topple his regime.
"There is no substitute for legitimacy," said Morsi, who has received an ultimatum from the military to work out his differences with the opposition by Wednesday or it will intervene to oversee the implementation of its own political road map.
If you had any doubt that the anti-government protests are serious, watch this video. The Huffington Post explains:
Taken by a military helicopter on June 30th, the first day of protests that called for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi's, this riveting footage shows crowds completely filling Cairo's Tahrir Square and the roads leading to it, including the Qasr al-Nil bridge. From time to time, bursts of green laser light emerge from the crowds below, seeking to ward off the helicopter. Reuters estimated that 500,000 people occupied the square on Sunday.
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