Ashton visits Egypt for mediation talks

Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, arrived in Cairo on Sunday night to meet with officials from the current government, as well as representatives of a coalition supporting deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

On Monday morning Ashton began a series of talks with Armed Forces head Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, interim president Adly Mansour, Vice President for Foreign Relations Mohamed ElBaradei and officials from the Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing.

Ashton said she would engage all parties to mediate for a "fully inclusive transition process, taking in all political groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood,” Reuters reported.

The official is also set to meet with members of the Anti-Coup Alliance, a coalition of political forces that has called for Morsi’s reinstatement since he was deposed on July 3 by an army ultimatum backed by millions of protesters.

ElBaradei assured Ashton that “Egyptian authorities are doing all they can to reach a peaceful exit from the current crisis,” the official wrote in a statement, adding that any political options for the nation’s future would need to “respect the rule of law, state institutions [and] avoid threatening national security.”

All political forces must take part in implementing the roadmap set on July 3, ElBaradei continued.

The Anti-Coup Alliance stated that the delegation meeting Ashton would include Mohamed Mahsoub, Mahmoud Taha, Mohamed Ali Bishr and Amr Darrag, as well as former Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, whom the coalition refers to as the “legitimate Egyptian prime minister.”

The group’s meeting with Ashton comes “in light of the growing sectors of society protesting the military coup — especially after the army’s repeated massacres against the Egyptian people exposed its bloody nature — and embarking from the platform of constitutional legitimacy, aiming to end the military coup,” the Alliance said in a statement.

Ashton’s visit comes days after bloody confrontations between security forces and pro-Morsi protesters taking part in the Rabea al-Adaweya Mosque sit-in left at least 80 dead. Clashes began when police stopped an attempt to block the nearby October 6 Bridge, and ended hours later after the nonstop use of teargas and live ammunition.

“Opening deadly fire for hours on end is no way to respond to civilians who are mainly throwing stones and teargas canisters," Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Sunday. HRW’s report claims that most of the victims were shot in the head and chest.

Morsi supporters have said that any negotiations to end their protests were conditional on the former president’s reinstatement, and have continued their sit-ins in Cairo and Giza, as well as protests and marches nationwide.

But millions took to the streets on Friday against Brotherhood supporters after Sisi called on “honorable Egyptians” to rally and authorize him to “combat potential violence and terrorism.”

Speaking to Reuters on Sunday, interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said deepening divisions in society would lead to "more tragedies." He blamed the Brotherhood for the violence, but said the group should be part of the country's political future.

"If they decide to withdraw from politics, it will be disappointing. If they decide to pursue violence, then you are looking at a completely different confrontation," Fahmy said.

In a statement released by the EU’s office in Egypt, Ashton said that the unfolding political process needs to “lead to a constitutional system, free and fair elections and the formation of a government with civilian leadership.”

State news agency MENA reported that Ashton spoke with Fahmy, but she did not give statements to the media after the meeting.

Fahmy had said that the Muslim Brotherhood had a right to partake in elections in a column he wrote for Euronews, as quoted in the state-run Middle East News Agency. However, he tempered his statement by adding that while the Brotherhood got into power in Egypt democratically, the group did not pursue a democratic political process.