Egypt in crisis: live - Telegraph A Muslim Brotherhood supporter shows cartridges from shotgun cases that he claims were used against demonstrators 14.24 Aleem Maqbool tweets: 13.51 reliable sources are telling our Cairo correspondent Richard Spencer that the Muslim Brotherhood is to make a statement at 3.30pm Egyptian (2.30pm UK time) and the Army an hour later. 13.49 Our Cairo correspondent Richard Spencer has been speaking to Amr Amr al-Shaer, 22, an engineering student who was with a po-Morsi demonstration last night when it came under fire from plain-clothes gunmen in the Cairo suburb of Giza (famous for its pyramids). We were in a peaceful march and they started shooting at us with rubber bullets. I saw one man in fall and then as we passed the University Metro station more people arrived to join the march and they started shooting again. I saw two more supporters of the president killed near me, there were police standing behind the thugs with machine guns. I also saw two police vehicles who joined in the attack. Mr Shaer added that he was not a supporter of Mr Morsi, but that he had joined the march because had no wish for a return to military rule. He also pointed out that if Morsi was toppled as an elected leader, "no other president will be able to rule us again." 13.32 Mohamed Morsi's spokesman has said it would be better for the president to die in defence of democracy than be blamed by history in a statement reported by Reuters. Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi listen to his televised speech outside the presidential palace in Cairo 13.16 American officials have broached the possibility of Mr Morsi's calling early elections, according to the New York Times 13.02 A prominent spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood has just issued the following statement via Twitter 12.42 Mohamed ElBaradei, the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been meeting army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today, according to Reuters. He has been nominated as the mouthpiece for various opposition groups, although among many Cairo demonstrators think he doesn't really have the 'streetfighting' capability. Also present at the meeting alongside Mr El ElBaradei are a top Muslim cleric and the Coptic Pope, the senior religious authority among Egyptian Christians 12.24 The Tamarod movement, the name for the movement representing the main cross-section of Egyptian opposition groups, has produced its own roadmap for Egypt's future. Details below, including a demand for fresh presidential elections. May be a hard sell to those who voted for Mr Morsi last year, who will argue that it is hardly fair to have a new election just because the opposition didn't like the original result. To name a temporary president and prime minister. To elect a constitutional council within 30 days. Results within 7 days. A new constitution to be drafted within 90 days. A referendum on the new constitution within 15 days of its writing. 7 days of voting, Presidential elections 60 days after the constitution is agreed upon. Whole process should take 231 days Opponents of President Morsi want a new election - but this will hardly seem fair to the millions who voted in favour of him 12.03 The Cairo-based journalist Alex Giles has been to the city's central morgue this morning, where the victims of violence that erupted last night are being cleansed, catalogued and put in their coffins for burial. Weeping relatives are sat amid discarded cigarette butts in the sandy yard outside. Others are hunched in stony silence. Most of those killed in the capital last night were caught up in the fierce gun battles which erupted close to Cairo University in Giza, west of Tahrir Square across the Nile. Throughout the night supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood had been fighting unknown assailants following a rally called to shore up President Morsi's position.Automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols were used; At least 12 people died, according to Egyptian officials. 11.58 Again on background reading, anyone who wants to know more about the Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, can read this Time magazine interview with him from last November. He talks about his time living in California, where he studied engineering, and his fondness for the US media. He also says that "he is very keen on having true freedom of expression." 11.34 The Associated Press is quoting a Defense Ministry official as saying that army chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is meeting with his top commanders, hours before the military's deadline to the president and opposition is set to expire. Democracy Egyptian style - where everyone claims to speak for everyone else 11.09 While Cairo is still relatively quiet, here is some background reading. For those who haven't followed things very closely, a fairly concise primer on the recent troubles is available from this Guardian piece from last Thursday. It includes comments from Nathan Brown, a professor of Middle Eastern politics at George Washington University, who sums the problems up rather pithily: "The number of actors who think they speak for the entire Egyptian people is a little bit troubling," he says. The presidency thinks it has been elected by the entire Egyptian people. The army think they are one hand with the people. The opposition think they are the entire society. 11.06 Bel Trew tweets: 10.59 Egypt's military chiefs are reportedly holding crisis talks, AFP reports. Anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters hold up their shoes after a speech by the president 10.50 Egyptian cabbies, seldom short of a political opinion, are chipping into the nation's frenzied discourse. "Morsi ciao," is the verdict of one of one driver who has just picked up a fare from the Telegraph's man in Cairo, Richard Spencer. 10.23 President Morsi's hardline Islamist allies in al-Gamaa al-Islamiya want him to call a referendum on early presidential elections to avoid bloodshed and a military coup, the group has just told Reuters. Gamaa al-Islamiyah is the Islamist group best known in the West for the Luxor massacre in 1997, in which 58 tourists, including six Britons, were killed as they toured the site of an ancient Egyptian temple. The group, which was banned under Mr Mubarak, has since embraced peaceful politics, but they have vowed to defend Mr Morsi's government physically against any attempted coup. Having friends like these, of course, has not endeared Mr Morsi to the secular opposition. 09.44 Here is a video dispatch from Richard Spencer sent overnight on the situation from the ground in Cairo: 09.38 Egypt's central bank has told banks to close their branches early and has advanced the time for a foreign currency auction, a banker has told Reuters, ahead of the army deadline this afternoon that could trigger a military takeover backed by protesters. Banks must close their branches by 2pm (1pm BST) instead of the usual 5pm. The central bank will hold its currency auction at 10:30 instead of 11:00 and issue the result at 11:00 a.m. instead of 12:00 noon, the banker said. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi 09.36 General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief, is increasingly emerging as a key figure in the crisis sweeping the country. Here is a profile of the man who is desperate to end the crisis but without a return to the unpopular military rule of 2011 to 2012: Politicians and journalists who have met Sisi believe his main preoccupation is rebuilding the army's reputation, tarnished by its time in control of the country with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. After the short honeymoon period that followed the fall of Mubarak, the army found itself jeered with slogans such as "Down with the military regime," similar to those chanted against Mubarak. Abdullah al-Sennaoui, journalist at the independent daily Al-Shorouk, who has met Sisi several times, stressed that the general had "clearly been affected by the deterioration of the image and credibility of the army" during its term in power. A girl with the colours of the Egyptian flag and the word "leave" painted on her face is seen during a demonstration against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in front of the Presidential Palace "Qasr Al Quba" in Cairo 09.06 Further strong words from the Muslim Brotherhood, as Essam el-Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, warns that the Egyptian people would not stay calm in the face of a "military rebellion" and said freedom was more valuable than life, Reuters reports. 08.52 Egypt's flagship state newspaper Al-Ahram says it expects that Mr Morsi would either step down or be removed from office later today: Al-Ahram learnt that with the end of the 48-hour period set by the armed forces ... it is expected in the hours that follow it, one of two things: either Morsi announces his resignation himself, or the declaration of his removal through the road map for the future set out by the armed forces. Egyptians waving their national flag as they protests against President Morsi in Tahrir square, Cairo 08.45 BST London (09.45 EET Cairo) Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the growing Egypt crisis, as President Mohamed Morsi refuses to step down despite mass protests and an army deadline of 16.30 EET (15.30 BST) to find a solution.