Opponents of Egypt's Mohamed Morsi poured onto the streets of Cairo on Tuesday to press their demand that he step down after the Islamist president snubbed an ultimatum from the army to agree to the "people's demands" or face an imposed solution.
Morsi and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have been locked in talks all day to "discuss the current crisis," a military source said.
Most businesses remained closed and very few cars were on the streets, as tensions soared ahead of the Wednesday deadline set by the army, which the president's supporters have condemned as a coup threat.
A senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood called on its supporters to be ready to sacrifice their lives to prevent an army takeover, recalling that hundreds had died during the 2011 revolution that ousted veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.
The main opposition coalition said it was ready to join the urgent talks on a negotiated transition called for by the army and named former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei as its chief negotiator.
The June 30 Front called for mass protests to keep up the pressure on Morsi and tens of thousands packed into Cairo's Tahrir Square and the large avenues outside the capital's two presidential palaces.
Chants of "Leave" rang out from the crowds.
The mood contrasted with the tension that had gripped protesters camped out in Tahrir earlier in the day after Morsi's office issued a statement rebuffing the army's ultimatum .
The Punch
They just love to protest over there. It's like they can't do without that and I think it's not good for the reputation of their country.