Egyptian army set to 'assume control'

A former senior Egyptian military officer has said that the country's army is set to "assume control" over the country.

Ayman Salama, who served as a Brigadier and is now an associate professor of international law at Cairo University told the Today programme that:

"The army is going to assume control of the whole political scene in Egypt. This is an emergent and urgent contemporary period of time."

On Monday, Egypt's army gave the country's president Mohamed Morsi and the country's opposition 48 hours to resolve Egypt's crisis.

Sir Graham Boyce, a former British ambassador to Egypt, explained what may occur if the deadline passes without agreement.

"You've got some huge crowds out there not just in Cairo but in other cities as well. At the moment those groups are apart. If there's no resolution in the 48 hours which were given, which is now counting down very fast, there is a danger of some very violent clashes. Whether that turns into full civil war depends on how it's handled."

First broadcast on the Today programme on Tuesday 2 July.