CAIRO, July 14 (RAPSI, Rafael Daminov) - The military had no choice but to overthrow President Mohamed Morsi after he rejected two proposals to hold a referendum on his presidency, Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Sunday.

Morsi, who was elected after months of turmoil following the 2011 revolution that removed Hosni Mubarak from office, was ousted on July 3 after four days of protests by millions of his opponents.

El-Sissi said he sent two envoys to Morsi, including then Prime Minister Hesham Kandil, urging him to hold a referendum, but the suggestion was rejected out of hand.

Only after the talks failed and the risk of civil war loomed over the country did the military announce their roadmap for the country's development, the defense minister said.

Shortly before the break out of mass protests, which culminated in the demonstration on June 30, a number of opposition parties and movements proposed holding a national referendum over whether Morsi should remain as president.

After the protests led to violent clashes between the Freedom and Justice Party, backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the anti-Morsi protesters, and to dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, the army moved to suspend Morsi and the Constitution and instructed Constitutional Court Chairman Adly Mansour to act as the head of state until a transition government were created.

According to the media, President Morsi is currently being held at a military facility.

Reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as Egypt's interim vice president for international relations on Sunday. The move reinforces the role of liberals in the new leadership who are strongly opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood.