Cairo, July 3 : Egypt's embattled president Mohammed Morsi has said he will not step down as demanded by millions of protesters, vowing to protect his "constitutional legitimacy" with his life.
Morsi addressed the nation in a speech carried live on state television into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
"How can we protect our revolution from being stolen?" Morsi asked.
"I'll tell you: the revolution of the 25th of January and its goals, protecting its legitimacy - the price for this is my life because I want to protect your lives," he added.
Morsi accused loyalists of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, of riding the current wave of protests to topple his regime.
"No one has the authority to intervene in the constitution either by what they say or by force, God forbid. No one has the right to change the constitutional legitimacy or to come up with a new system," Morsi said.
The President spoke hours before a deadline from the country's military to yield to the demands of millions of protesters or see the military suspend the constitution, disband parliament and install a new leadership.
He demanded that the powerful armed forces withdraw their ultimatum.
"We all built our army with our blood, sweat and resources. We want a strong army," he said.
"I want my children (he means the army) to be self-determined, having their own weapons and be supported by all the people. Don't you ever take the side of the supporters or opponents, because this is an insult to the army," he added.
Meanwhile, millions continued to protest in cities around the country on Tuesday night.
In a packed Tahrir Square protesters set off fireworks and projected a laser beam onto a nearby building.
Protesters cheered as the words "Morsi", "Game Over" and "Out" were projected in large green lettering.
Protesters massed in their thousands chanting outside Cairo's Itehadeya presidential palace.
Thousands more continued to rally across the capital, filling wide avenues outside Qasr el-Qobba palace - where Morsi has been working in recent days.
"We want to remove Morsi not because he is an Islamist or not because of anything in particular but because he is continuing the same policies as Mubarak," said protester Tarek Abdel Hamid outside Qasr el-Qobba palace after hearing Morsi's televised address.
Another protester said she would like to tell Morsi that "this is enough".
"He should resign before any bloodshed," said Gamal Mohamed.
Morsi's supporters also increased their presence in the streets, after his Muslim Brotherhood and hard-line Islamist leaders called them out to defend what they say is the legitimacy of the country's first freely elected president.
Tens of thousands held marches in Cairo and other cities.
Egypt's military has given Morsi until Wednesday to find an agreement with his opponents.
State media reported on Tuesday that the military plans to overturn Morsi's Islamist-dominated government if the elected leader doesn't meet the demands of the millions of protesters calling for his ouster.
The leaking of the military's so-called political road map appeared aimed at adding pressure on Morsi by showing the public and the international community that the military has a plan that does not involve a coup.
Security and hospital officials said that seven people have been killed on Tuesday in clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi in Cairo.
The violence raised the overall death toll to 23 since Sunday when a mass protest was held to mark the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration.
Most of the killings took place outside Cairo University located at Cairo's twin city of Giza when a march by Morsi supporters came under fire from gunmen on nearby rooftops.
There were multiple clashes between opponents and supporters of Morsi in Cairo as well as in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and other cities.
The violence raised the overall death toll to 39 since Sunday when a mass protest was held to mark the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration.
Meanwhile, three government spokesmen were the latest to quit as part of high-level defections that underscored Morsi's increasing isolation and fallout from the ultimatum from Egypt's powerful armed forces
Five Cabinet ministers, including the foreign minister, resigned on Monday, and a sixth, Sports Minister El-Amry Farouq, quit on Tuesday.
Morsi's defiant statement sets up a major confrontation between supporters of the president and Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control by his Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his failure to introduce reforms more than two years after the revolution that ousted his autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
"He didn't respect anyone who is here and in other squares," said Abdul Hamid, one of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to watch the president's speech.
"He came out with a speech to provoke us, not to calm us. He is threatening us but I'm sending him a message from here: 'Egyptians will never be scared'," he added.
In Alexandria's Sidi Gaber Square, the president's speech was broadcast on a screen to huge crowds.
Protesters responded to his words with chants of "we will not leave" and "the people demand the fall of the regime".
"The president was targeting his followers and his Muslim Brotherhood in his speech. He is ruling in their favour and he does not put the rest of the people into consideration," said protester Mohammad Saied.
"We will remain in the square unless he steps down," he added.
