Morsi offers to form coalition government

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CAIRO (CNN) -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday offers to form an interim coalition government even as one of his aides and a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman said it appeared a military coup was under way.

"The presidency's vision includes the formation of a coalition government that would manage the upcoming parliamentary electoral process, and the formation of an independent committee for constitutional amendments to submit to the upcoming parliament," he said in a posting on his Facebook page.

"The presidency blames for the most part a number of political parties that boycotted all calls for dialogue."

It added, "To protect the blood of Egyptians, the presidency calls on all political and national forces to prioritize national interest above all other interests."

Morsi noted that hundreds of thousands of supporters and protesters had packed plazas around the country.

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"One of the mistakes I cannot accept -- as the president of all Egyptians -- is to side with one party over another, or to present the scene from one side only. To be fair, we need to listen to the voice of people in all squares."

He urged that his countrymen be allowed to express their opinions through the ballot box.

The posting came as the nation's first democratically elected president and his supporters were facing off against demonstrators who had packed public spaces around the country to demonstrate their opposition to his government.

Whether his statement would suffice to stave off military intervention was not immediately clear.

For the complete CNN story, go here.