Egypt - Back to square one as president Morsi rejects army's 48-hour ultimatum

Egypt's president has rejected an army ultimatum that the country's crisis be resolved by Wednesday, amid deadly protests across the capital.

Mohammed Morsi insisted on his constitutional legitimacy as president and said he would not be dictated to.
It is clear he expects the military to depose him in the coming hours, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Cairo.

The army earlier leaked details of its draft "roadmap" for Egypt's future to the BBC.
The plan would see new presidential elections, the suspension of the new constitution and the dissolution of parliament.

Read more: BBC News - Egypt's Morsi rejects army's 48-hour ultimatum

Egypt: By snubbing Copts on their holiest day, Egypt’s Morsi failed as President - by Nervana Mahmoud

On late Saturday, Pope Tawadros II led his first Easter Mass as head of the ancient Coptic Christian Church in Egypt by praying for security and prosperity in the country. It was the most important event of the year for Egypt’s Christian minority. Many Muslims attended the service, including various figures from the opposition parties.

However, President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil were conspicuously absent; their Muslim Brotherhood government effectively snubbed the mass by sending sent a low-level token representative – the country’s housing minister.

Many voices in Egypt had pressured the President to attend the mass as a gesture of support to the Copts, particularly after the recent violent attack on the main Coptic Cathedral , the first such atrocity in the history of Egypt. Sadly he decided to snub Egypt’ s Coptic Christians, who make up 10 per cent of the country’s 90 million people.

Read more: By snubbing Copts on their holiest day, Egypt’s Morsi failed as President - The Globe and Mail