Egypt’s armed forces lent its weight to President Mohammed Morsi’s calls for negotiations on Saturday with its first public statement since anti-Morsi protests erupted more than two weeks ago.
“The path of dialogue is the best and only way to reach agreement and achieve the interests of the nation and its citizens,” the statement from the armed forces said.
“The opposite of that will take us into a dark tunnel with disastrous results — and that is something we will not allow,” the army said, adding that it would take measures to protect state institutions, if necessary.
The statement does not, however, signal that Egypt’s powerful army is making a return to politics, a military source told Reuters.
Tens of thousands of Egyptian protesters besieged the presidential palace again on Friday even as Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said a December 15 referendum on a constitution that liberals oppose could be put off if a delay posed no legal challenges.
That concession, however, only partly meets a list of opposition demands that include scrapping a November 22 decree that expanded Morsi’s powers.
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