Deposed Morsi safe and well says top EU diplomat Ashton

Deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi is safe and well, according to the EU’s top diplomat who has been his first contact with the outside world.

Foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said they had a “friendly, open and very frank” discussion about the country’s political crisis and the need to move forward.

Egypt’s army-backed administration originally said they were holding him for his own safety, but last week authorities announced he was being detained pending an investigation. His supporters and family have decried his detention as illegal and called for his release.

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Ms Ashton said Mr Morsi “has access to information, in terms of TV and newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation, and we were able to talk about the need to move forward.” She declined to reveal anything further about their conversation.

“I sent him good wishes from people here, and he asked me to pass on wishes back, and of course I’ve tried to make sure that his family knows that he is well,” she said.

Ms Ashton said she was able to see the facilities where Mr Morsi is being held, but that she does not know where he is.

Since the coup, which followed days of mass protests by millions of Egyptians calling for Mr Morsi’s removal, the former president has been detained by the military at an undisclosed location. A group of Egyptian rights activists were allowed access to him this week but he refused to see them.

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Last Friday, prosecutors said Mr Morsi was facing accusations of conspiring with the Palestinian Hamas group to escape from prison during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Egypt’s interim presidency says he “is not a political prisoner” and that the issue is in the judiciary’s hands.

Ms Ashton said she has made clear to all sides of the conflict that “there is no place for violence in this and that peaceful demonstration is important.” She said authorities also “have a huge responsibly to make sure that happens”.

There was no sign that either side of Egypt’s deep political divide is willing to heed her appeals. The Muslim Brotherhood has rejected calls to work with the new leaders, insists that Mr Morsi must be reinstated and has vowed to keep up its nearly daily protests until he is. The group has called for new mass demonstrations.

The government, meanwhile, has made no conciliatory gestures and has forged ahead with a transition plan that provides for parliamentary and presidential elections early next year.

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