EU chief to visit Egypt on Tuesday

Young journalists club

News ID: 2259
Publish Date: 10:46 - 29 September 2013
European Union's top diplomat will visit Egypt on Tuesday, on the third visit since the ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi, a diplomatic source told the Anadolu Agency.
EU's Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will meet with a number of senior Egyptian officials, including interim President Adly Mansour, army chief and Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy as well as Amr Moussa, the head of a constitution-amending panel, along with representatives of political powers.

The talks will focus on an army-imposed roadmap for Egypt's transition and the participation of all political powers, the source said.

The powerful military has imposed a roadmap for post-Morsi transition, under which the constitution was suspended and Mansour, the head of the constitutional court, was installed as interim president.

The source said Ashton is not likely to meet Morsi during her visit in capital Cairo.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has not confirmed reports about Ashton's visit.

It is not yet clear whether she will meet with Muslim Brotherhood leaders during the visit.

Mohamed Ali Beshr, a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure, said that there were no contacts about meeting Ashton.

Amr Darrag, a member of the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition of pro-Morsi groups, said the alliance "is keen on explaining their viewpoint on the crisis in Egypt and that the Egyptians are capable of resolving the crisis."

Darrag, however, said that the coalition has not received any contact about meeting Ashton during the visit.

The Salafist Nour party said that "there are no plans yet to meet Ashton during the visit."

Nour party member Salah Abdel-Maaboud said the party will not refuse to meet Ashton as the party "is keen on pushing for national dialogue among all parties."

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