Street clashes continue as deadline looms; Morsi vows not to cede power But with Morsi defiant, and thousands again clogging the streets to demand his resignation, none of the factions involved in the standoff showed any sign of backing down. For the latest updates on Egypt, click here. "Today: dismissal or resignation" read the bold, red headline in Wednesday's edition of the state-run al-Ahram newspaper. It was the same font and color that the paper used for its historic front page on February 12, 2011, the day after the ouster of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. That headline stated: "The people toppled the regime." Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, delivered a fiery televised speech Tuesday night that made it clear he would not cede power. Waving his hands and shaking his fists, he swore that he was committed to the process that led to the historic elections last year and said that any attempts to subvert the constitution were "unacceptable." The army, in turn, posted a message to its Facebook page saying: "We swear to God that we will sacrifice even our blood for Egypt and its people, to defend them against any terrorist, radical or fool." With less than two hours remaining until the 5 p.m. deadline, Egypt's interior ministry posted its own Facebook message, saying Egypt's police and state security forces were committed "to the safety of the Egyptian people, side by side with the armed forces." In his speech, Morsi acknowledged that he had made mistakes during his year in office as Egypt's first democratically elected president. But he appealed to Egyptians to give him more time to deal with the country's problems. The speech represented a direct challenge to the nation's military and a signal that efforts to mediate the crisis have so far failed. Earlier on Tuesday, Morsi met with his defense minister, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, in an apparent bid to reach an accord. Although Sissi was appointed by Morsi, the general's announcement Monday afternoon that he would give the president and his opponents 48 hours to resolve their differences before the military implemented its own "road map" for the country was seen here as a direct threat to Morsi's hold on power. Morsi's backers in the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood have described the statement as a pledge for "a coup," and are vowing that they will not go quietly if their president is forced out. As night fell Tuesday, bursts of automatic gunfire crackled along the Nile as the president's supporters and opponents came to blows in the working-class neighborhood of Kit Kat in central Cairo and near the university, where the president's supporters had gathered.