Clearly things are getting out of hand in Egypt. It is still possible for tension to diffuse, not least because Egyptians are not an ethnicly divided people living in a country whose borders cross tribal boundaries and were set by historic agreement between colonial powers, as is the case with Syria and Iraq. Egyptians are one people and have been for many thousands of years. They have also been ruled always by one leader and never before by one who was elected. President Morsi was, but he failed to understand that democratic election with victory in a run off ballot does not invest the winner with absolute power; rather it places on his shoulders universal responsibility for the welfare and prosperity of the nation as a whole.
World opinion and the majority of Egyptians are more or less united that Morsi failed to do this and that Egypt was imploding through economic failure, dysfunction in such democratic institutions which had been established and the railroading of an Islamic constitution. There appeared to be no enforcement of civil security and inflammatory exhortations to persecute and murder the Shia minority went unchallenged by the authorities. mass protests against Morsi and a petition for his removal signed by millions led the Army to intervene. That has now led to a massacre outside the barracks of the Republican Guard, within which it is thought President Morsi is detained.
The time has now come for compromise. President Morsi is undoubtedly guilty of misjudgement and incompetence, but not of any state crime. A deal should be struck allowing him to be released on the promise of directing his supporters to stop all acts and talk of violence. The Acting President should ask the army to return to barracks and stay there, so long as the population keeps a pact of keeping to non-violent protest at a level within the capacity of the civil police to control.
A Constitution should then be drawn up, there are many drafts so this should not take long, and then voted upon in a referendum. Only when it is adopted can there be elections under it terms. It cannot be done the other way around with elections first and a Constitution second. To reach their goals Egyptians of all persuasions must go through with this process peacefully. If they do not the Army will have no option but to come out of its barracks and impose martial law. Nobody wants that, not even the Army.