Egypt's ruling military council has set a 48-hour deadline for political parties to finalise the formation of a 100-member panel to write a new constitution, or it will draw up its own blueprint.

Legislator Mustafa Bakri on Tuesday outlined the ultimatum after representatives of 18 parties and independent parliamentarians met the head of the council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

The process has been deadlocked since the Islamist-dominated parliament tried to stack the body with its own people, leading to a walkout by secular and liberal members and the disbanding of the panel by a court order.

Bakri said that if parties failed to name an assembly, the military council will issue "a supplementary constitutional declaration" to lay the blueprints for the panel. [AP]