Sisi meets ElBaradei, representatives of Azhar, church

Egyptian military chief was meeting Wednesday at the Defense Ministry headquarters with opposition leader Mohammad ElBaradei and representatives of Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Church, political sources told the Anadolu Agency. The Armed Forces General Command was holding a crisis meeting to assess the situation as the clock was ticking for the military's self-styled 48-hour ultimatum for all political rivals to reach a deal. It was not immediately clear whether ElBaradei and representatives of Al -Azhar and thechurch were taking part in that meeting, or meeting separately with the country's top army commander and defense minister, Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The powerful army establishment had given all parties, including the president, two days to thrash out a settlement for a political deadlock that brought millions of people onto the streets nationwide this week. It threatened to otherwise come up with a roadmap for the future of Egypt and supervise its implementation. But a defiant Morsi went on state television late last night insisting he would not allow any institution, group or individual to undermine his constitutional authority, and ruling out any possibility of early presidential elections even if his life was the price. He offered to change government, amend constitution, speed up preparations for parliamentary elections and work on national reconciliation, if the opposition agrees on such a settlement. A couple of hours later a Facebook page affiliated to the army forces published statements attributed to El Sisi that the army was ready to "shed our blood" in defense of Egypt and its people. Though the post did not clarify when or where these remarks were made, many took that as a defiant reaction to Morsi’s televised speech.