Egypt's alliance of Islamist parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, rejected the earlier army statement, calling it an "assault over legitimacy" in a way leading to a coup, state TV reported early hours on Tuesday.

In a televised statement, the alliance said "it rejected bids by some to revert the public legitimacy," adding it respects all initiatives to resolve the crisis but they must be based on constitution.

The statement called on the Egyptian people to flood across the country to defend the legitimacy.

"We assert respect for peaceful principles and preserving the Egyptian blood," it added, urging all people to back the people's legitimacy and opposing any sort of coup.

The alliance said it "respects the people's will and constitutional legitimacy for elections with a keen desire for the national reconciliation."

The alliance is responding to a statement by the armed forces Monday that gave the political parties 48 hours to resolve the crisis before imposing a military-supervised roadmap for the future of Egypt.

"The Armed Force will not be part of politics or rule," Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said in an audio speech aired on state TV.

He said the 48-hour deadline represents "the last chance" for all the parties to meet the demands of the people and resolve the crisis, referring to the current circumstances as "historical."

"Wasting more time will lead to more division and conflict," Sisi warned, noting that the people have already been suffering a lot over the ongoing political crisis.

Sisi said that the army's future roadmap would be carried out " with participation of all honest parties and national forces, particularly the youth, without isolation of any party."

Meanwhile, the army spokesperson, Ahmed Ali, asserted on the armed forces official website that the army culture and discipline don't permit "military coups", describing the statement by Sisi as an "interaction" with the people.

While protesters against President Mohamed Morsi welcomed the military's statement, his supporters have started to flock into different spots in Egypt rather than their main square near Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City to express solidarity with Morsi, rejecting the army statement.

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