Egypt teetered on the brink of overthrow after a defiant Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rejected an ultimatum issued by the military, in which defense officials have pledged to intervene if the government does not address public demands and bring an end to the political turmoil engulfing Cairo.

Morsi said Tuesday that he had not been consulted and would pursue his own plans for reconciliation between his government and opposition leaders, according to Reuters.

Morsi has repeatedly said he will not quit, saying that street action must not be allowed to remove an elected president or else the same could happen to future presidents. At the same time, he has offered no concessions -- though his opponents appear in no mood to accept anything short of his removal anyway. His Islamist supporters, some of them hard-liners who belong to formerly armed militant groups, have vowed to defend him.

Reuters reported that a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said "everyone" rejected the military declaration.

"Solutions will be in the framework of the constitution," Yasser Hamza, a member of the FJP's legal committee, told Al Jazeera. "The age of military coups is over."

The comments came as a foreign ministry official said two spokesmen for Morsi -- Omar Amer and Ihab Fahmy -- have stepped down after nearly five months speaking on behalf of Morsi. On Monday, six of his cabinet members quit.

Millions are expected to protest again in Egypt Tuesday, with protesters calling for a mass rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Morsi to respond to issues raised by the protesters.

The White House released a statement saying that Obama told Morsi in a telephone conversation that "the United States is committed to the democratic process in Egypt and does not support any single party or group." The statement went on to say that Obama "encouraged [Morsi] to take steps to show that he is responsive to [protesters'] concerns, and underscored that the current crisis can only be resolved through a political process."

The military's ultimatum puts enormous pressure on Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Opposition and crowds in the street -- who numbered in the millions nationwide on Sunday -- have made clear they will accept nothing less than his departure and a transition to early presidential elections.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/02/obama-urges-morsi-to-be-responsive-to-protesters

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