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Cairo (CNN) -- Just don't call it a coup.
Appearing to throw its weight behind an opposition that swarmed Cairo's Tahrir Square, the Egyptian military told the country's civilian government it has until Wednesday evening to "meet the demands of the people" or it will step in to restore order. In a statement carried nationwide on radio and television, the military called the 48-hour ultimatum "a final chance to shoulder the burden of a historic moment in our country."
But a military spokesman said late Monday that the culture of the armed forces -- which dominated the country for decades -- "doesn't allow it to adopt the policy of military coups." The statement was meant to push all factions toward quick solutions and a national consensus, and the armed forces aren't looking to be part of the political or ruling circles, the spokesman, Col. Ahmed Ali, said in written statement.
While insisting they want no direct role in national politics, the generals appeared instead to be pressuring Mohamed Morsy, Egypt's first freely elected president, to restructure his government. The steps could include reducing the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in his cabinet and calling early presidential and parliamentary elections, a source close to highly placed members of Egypt's leadership told CNN.
The protesters in Tahrir Square, who listened to the military statement on radios and cell phones, cheered as it was read. They roared as military helicopters passed overhead at dusk, trailing Egyptian flags and the banners of the armed services. After nightfall, they waved flags, honked horns and set off fireworks.
"Everyone is talking as if Morsy is officially out of power and the Brotherhood is officially out of power, and everyone is celebrating," Bassem Sabry, an Egyptian writer who took part in Monday's protests, told CNN's Connect the World.
But Morsy's office said early Tuesday that the military statement "has not yet been reviewed" by the president, adding "Egypt, by all its power, will not allow the country to go backwards under any circumstances."
In the face of the protests, which began over the weekend, five government ministers announced their resignations Monday. The latest was Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
Morsy, a U.S.-educated Islamist, was elected Egypt's president in June 2012. He resigned his post as leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, after winning office, but critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian over his year in power.
And he has failed to revive Egypt's economy, which crashed when the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak drove tourists away. That's disaffected many of his supporters among Egypt's poor and middle classes, said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.
"That some of the revolutionaries are calling on the army to return to politics is a testament to how polarized Egypt is a year after the election of Morsy," Gerges said. "Think of the millions of people who cheered Morsy after his election. Think of the millions of Egyptians who pinned their hopes on Morsy. A year later, now, the millions of Egyptians who cheered for Morsy are saying he must go."
Gerges called Morsy "incompetent" and "a president who is basically his own worst enemy." But he doubted the military would actually step in to depose him, which he said "would plunge Egypt into a greater legal political and institutional crisis."
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy clash with riot police during the swearing in ceremony of Adly Mansour as interim president in Cairo on Thursday, July 4. Egypt's military deposed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, the country's top general announced Wednesday. View photos of Egypt after the coup.
Photos: Protests in Egypt
Egyptian protesters want Morsy out
Crowds reach leader's palace in Egypt
Anti-Morsy protests heat up in Egypt
Shortly after the military's announcement, Morsy met with Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and Egypt's minister of defense and head of the country's military, Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, according to the president's Facebook page. It was not immediately known what they discussed, and a late-night news conference planned by the president's office was canceled.
The source who discussed the issue with CNN said the military is asking Morsy's government to reduce the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and focus on a governing style credible to the majority. Gerges said those changes could include the appointment of an opposition figure as prime minister, the appointment of a new prosecutor-general and opposition-backed amendments to the country's constitution, which voters approved in December.
The Muslim Brotherhood was repressed under Mubarak but is now the most powerful political force in Egypt. Last week, El-Sisi said the army would, if necessary, "prevent Egypt from slipping into a dark tunnel of civil unrest and killing, sectarianism and the collapse of state institutions."
The opposition Tamarod ("rebel") Campaign called for nationwide protests, civil disobedience and a march on the presidential palace if Morsy doesn't leave office by Tuesday. Demonstrators say they have collected 17 million signatures -- roughly 4 million more than the number of votes that won Morsy the presidency -- calling for Morsy to go.
The opposition is made up of various groups and loose coalitions, and not all anti-Morsy protesters agree with the road map the Tamarod campaign is advocating. Some are loyal to the ousted Mubarak government, while others want the army to intervene.
That's brought criticism from observers like Mohamad Elmasry, a journalism professor at the American University in Cairo, who says much of the movement is anti-democratic and elitist.
"The Muslim Brotherhood has made plenty of mistakes," Elmasry told CNN. "But in medicine, they talk about triaging. If someone goes into the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the chest and a broken arm, the doctors treat the gunshot wound to the chest, not the broken arm."
"The Brotherhood might be a broken arm with their mistakes," he said, but "this anti-democratic tendency within these circles that is the gunshot wound to the democratic chest, if you will, of Egypt."
AbdulMawgoud Dardery, a former member of parliament and a Muslim Brotherhood representative, told CNN's Amanpour program that the military could be an "honest broker" in a national dialogue. He said Morsy has reached out to opposition leaders many times, but the opposition "is afraid of democracy."
"It failed in the previous five elections we had in Egypt since the revolution, and they don't want to fail a sixth time," he said. "That's why they're going to street politics. Street politics is not an end in itself. It is a means to achieve democracy. But they're not willing to go toward a democratic system."
On Monday, protesters stormed the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party that Morsy led before his election. Armed with Molotov cocktails, the mob set the office on fire, shouting, "The people have toppled the regime."
At least 16 people were killed and more than 780 were wounded Sunday and Monday during the unrest in Egypt, the nation's health minister said, according to the official Egypt News agency.
On Friday, Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old American in Alexandria to teach children English, was stabbed to death while watching the demonstrations, his family said.
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Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Hamid told the news agency that eight people alone were killed in clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood's national headquarters in Cairo. All but 182 of the wounded have left the hospital after receiving treatment for their injuries.
State-funded Egyptian daily Al-Ahram also reported 46 sexual assaults during anti-Morsy protests in Egypt since Sunday, citing volunteer group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment.
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Opponents say Morsy's policies also are to blame for a breakdown in law and order and for a gas shortage that has Egyptians waiting at the pumps for hours. Monday's military statement seemed to adopt the protesters' perspective, calling the crisis a grave threat to national security while praising demonstrators as determined and admirable.
"Wasting more time will only lead to more division and fighting which we have and continue to warn against," the military said in its statement.
iReport: Protesters flood Cairo's streets
Morsy's supporters held smaller rallies Monday in other parts of Cairo. Some of them said he is the people's choice, that he inherited a broken system and should be given time to fix it.
"We're not leaving, and the president is staying," one supporter told CNN. "We believe in democracy. If people don't like him, they can vote him out in three years."
Dardery said Monday that the party might support early parliamentary elections. But he said the nation elected Morsy to a four-year term and should stand by that. To do otherwise would disrupt the country's nascent democracy, he said.
"It is not fair. It is not fair to a democracy," he said.
The developments were being closely watched around the region and in the United States, Egypt's leading ally. Speaking in Africa, U.S. President Barack Obama noted the protests and their demands.
"Our commitment to Egypt has never been around any particular individual or party. Our commitment has been to a process," he said.
Washington provided tens of billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Egypt under Mubarak and pledged $1 billion to the post-Mubarak government. Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Monday that the U.S. Defense Department is reviewing the latest statement from the Egyptian military, but no one is sure what will happen "one way or the other" in the next two days.
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CNN's Ian Lee, Housam Ahmed and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.
Riot police stand guard as members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Morsy protest in front of Egypt's Constitutional Court in Cairo on July 4.
Protesters celebrate outside Egypt's Presidential Palace in Cairo on Wednesday, July 3.
People celebrate at Tahrir Square after a broadcast on July 3 confirming that the Egyptian Army will temporarily be taking over.
Protesters in Tahrir Square celebrate the news that Morsy was ousted on July 3.
An officer gestures to protesters at the gates of the Republican Guard headquarters in the suburb of Nasr City on July 3. The Egyptian military gave Morsy a 48-hour ultimatum on Monday to accommodate his opponents with a power-sharing agreement or be pushed aside.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsy supporters react at the Raba El-Adwyia mosque square on July 3 after the Egyptian Army's statement was announced on state TV.
Protesters celebrate near Egypt's Presidential Palace in Cairo on July 3.
Anti-Morsy protesters wave flags in Tahrir Square on July 3.
Officers of the Egyptian Republican Guard celebrate at their headquarters in Nasr City on July 3.
Fireworks light the sky as Morsy opponents celebrate in Tahrir Square on July 3.
Opposition protesters celebrate outside Egypt's Presidential Palace in Cairo on July 3.
An anti-Morsy poster is displayed on a wall in Tahrir Square on July 3.
Opposition protesters celebrate on July 3, lighting flares and waving national flags in Tahrir Square.
On July 3 in front of a symbolic coffin, green lasers illuminate opposition protesters performing funeral prayers for Egyptians killed during clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsy.
Opponents of Morsy wave national flags during a protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo on July 3.
A man with his face painted the colors of the Egyptian flag looks out as thousands of protesters gather on July 3 in Tahrir Square.
An opposition protester holds a chair and knife during clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsy on July 3 in downtown Damietta, Egypt, which is north of Cairo near the Mediterranean Sea.
An opposition protester is beaten by pro-Morsy demonstrators during clashes in Damietta on July 3.
Egyptian Army soldiers take their positions in front of protesters near the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo on July 3.
Women react to the flag-draped body of a victim (not pictured) who was killed during fighting outside Cairo University on July 3.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square as the deadline given by the military to Morsy passes on July 3.
A supporter of Morsy holds a poster that reads, "The people support legitimacy for the president," during a rally in Cairo on July 3.
Thousands of protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo on July 3.
Egyptians salute Army tanks upon their deployment on a street leading to Cairo University on July 3.
An opponent of Morsy chants slogans during a protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo on July 3.
Egyptian special forces police stand guard beside an armored vehicle, protecting a bridge connecting Cairo and Giza, Egypt, where Muslim Brotherhood supporters have gathered, on July 3.
Hundreds of protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo as the deadline given to Morsy by the military approaches on July 3.
Opponents of Morsy shout slogans as they carry a symbolic coffin during a protest in Tahrir Square on July 3.
A protester shouts during a demonstration in Tahrir Square on July 3.
Protesters react after Morsy's speech in a street leading to the presidential palace in Cairo early on July 3. Morsy's angry opponents met head-on overnight with his supporters at Cairo University, leaving 23 people dead.
A protester runs past a fire raging during clashes in Giza, Egypt, early on July 3.
People watch Morsy on television in Cairo on Tuesday, July 2.
Fireworks go off as protesters gather in the streets outside the presidential palace in Cairo on July 2.
Supporters of President Morsy hold sticks and wear protective gear during training outside a mosque in Cairo on July 2.
Morsy supporters march in formation in Cairo on July 2.
Opponents of Morsy camp out as they protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo on July 2.
Egyptians shout slogans against Morsy in Cairo on Monday, July 1.
A protester lights a flare as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gather in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square on July 1 during a protest calling for the ouster of Morsy.
Protesters pray during a demonstration against Morsy in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, July 1. Pro- and anti-government demonstrations have spread around the country surrounding the one-year mark of Morsy coming into office on Sunday, June 30.
Egyptian protesters shout slogans and wave national flags during a demonstration against President Mohamed Morsy in Tahrir Square in Cairo on July 1.
Egyptian protesters ransack the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in the Muqatam district in Cairo on July 1. Protesters stormed and ransacked the headquarters of Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood group early Monday.
Egyptian protesters ransack the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo on July 1.
Thousands of opponents of Egyptian President Morsy pray during a protest calling for his ouster on Sunday, June 30. On the first anniversary of his inauguration, Morsy's Islamist supporters vow to defend his legitimacy to the end.
Protesters stormed the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, the party that Morsy led before his election, and set it on fire on June 30.
Morsy's opponents say his policies are to blame for a breakdown in law and order, for an economy that's gone south, and for a gas shortage that has Egyptians waiting at the pumps for hours. Here, protestors fill the streets of Cairo on June 30.
Protesters sit on top of a power pole as they chant slogans against Morsy outside the presidential palace in Cairo on June 30. "Egypt is on the brink of a volcano," government-run newspaper Al-Akhbar said.
Protesters set off fireworks on June 30 outside the presidential palace.
Protesters wave national flags and a red card in Arabic reading "leave" in Tahrir Square during the June 30 demonstrations against Morsy.
Protesters take a rest near Tahrir Square on June 30.
A protester watches an Apache helicopter as it flies over Tahrir Square on June 30. Morsy's opponents stood their ground in the square, where protests two years ago helped topple Hosni Mubarak's 29-year rule.
The demonstrators say they collected 17 million signatures -- roughly 4 million more than what won Morsy the presidency -- and all of them call for Morsy to go.
An Egyptian protester chants slogans during the June 30 rally.
Hundreds of thousands of Morsy opponents chant outside the presidential palace on June 30.
Morsy opponents protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo on June 30.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters gather in Tahrir Square on June 30.
Morsy opponents wave a giant national flag outside the presidential palace on Saturday, June 29.
Supporters of the president shout slogans at the opposition near a mosque in Cairo on June 29. "We're not leaving, and the president is staying," one supporter told CNN. "We believe in democracy. If people don't like him, they can vote him out in three years."
Mourners shout slogans during journalist Salah Hassan's funeral on June 29 in Port Said.
Morsy supporters, armed with sticks and shields, stand guard at their protest site in Cairo on June 29.
A protester waves a national flag over Tahrir Square on Friday, June 28.
Egyptians help a wounded man following clashes between Morsy's supporters and opponents in Alexandria on June 28.
Morsy supporters demonstrate in Cairo on June 28. Protests also erupted in Suez, Sharqia, El Monofia and Gharbiya, the state-run Ahram news agency said. And in the port city of Alexandria, so many people turned out that traffic virtually came to a standstill.
A Morsy opponent waves Egyptian flags during a protest outside the Egyptian Defense Ministry in Cairo on June 28.
Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters conduct Friday prayers in front of a Cairo mosque before the start of a sit-in for Morsy on June 28.
A chained protester wearing a picture of Morsy participates in an anti-government protest in Tahrir Square on Wednesday, June 26.
