Reuters: Most Read Articles: Conciliatory tones in Egypt as envoys seek to avert bloodbath

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Conciliatory tones in Egypt as envoys seek to avert bloodbath Aug 3rd 2013, 15:24 1 of 14. Riot police take up positions as members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flee from tear gas and rubber bullets fired during clashes near a television production complex in Six October City in Giza, south of Cairo August 2, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh By Tom Perry and Angus MacSwan CAIRO | Sat Aug 3, 2013 11:24am EDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Allies of Egypt's deposed president said on Saturday they respected the demands of millions who took to the streets against him before he was deposed, signaling new flexibility to Western envoys trying to head off more bloodshed. Islamist supporters of Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, also told Western envoys they reject any role for the army chief in any political deal and want a restoration of the constitution he suspended. They have clung to a demand that he be reinstated during a month of sit-in protests since he was forced out by the army. But faced with the threat of a security crackdown, and pressed by U.S. and European envoys, a spokesman for the pro-Mursi camp said the bloc wanted a solution that would "respect all popular desires". The official, Tarek El-Malt, said this was the message given at talks on Saturday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and European Union envoy Bernadino Leon, as diplomacy picked up pace a month to the day since Mursi was removed. Mursi was deposed by the military on the back of huge demonstrations against his rule, ending a year in government by his Muslim Brotherhood after decades spent in the shadows under successive Egyptian autocrats. Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence in the past month, including 80 protesters shot by security forces on July 27. Mursi is in custody at a secret location, under investigation on a raft of charges including murder. Malt said the pro-Mursi camp rejected any role for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the man behind the overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president and who has laid down a "road map" to elections and a return to civilian rule. "I respect and hold in regard the demands of the masses that went out on June 30, but I will not build on the military coup," Malt told Reuters, saying any solution must be based on a constitution already revoked by Sisi. Asked whether the delegation had told the envoys that Mursi must be reinstated, Malt said that would be worked out in the details. "This is part of the political initiatives," he said. "We did not get into the details of the political initiatives." If Mursi's opponents insist he should not be part of the solution, Malt said, then "the steadfastness and sit-ins of the millions in the streets for five weeks requires that Sisi must also not be in the political equation". Egypt's army-installed government also struck a more conciliatory tone, promising Mursi supporters "safe exit" from two Cairo protest camps. It urged them to rejoin the political process. "CONTACTS" WITH BROTHERHOOD Burns, Leon and U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson also met with Egypt's interim foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, for almost an hour on Saturday morning. A Foreign Ministry statement said Fahmy reiterated the interim government's commitment to the "road map". It also wanted to achieve national reconciliation, including all political forces "as long as they refrain from all forms of violence and incitement to it". Fahmy told reporters after the meeting that there had been some contact with the Brotherhood. "I wouldn't use the word negotiation. There have been contacts between different figures. There is no desire to use force if there is any other avenue that has any potential for success," he said. Those avenues had not yet been exhausted, he said, "but I have not seen any real return or any concrete progress frankly". Interior Ministry spokesman, General Hany Abdel Latif, meanwhile appeared on television and promised Mursi supporters a safe exit from their protest camps. He said they were being manipulated by the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders. "Your continued sit-ins have no legal or political use. You have a safe exit, you will be politically integrated," said Abdel Latif, wearing a white dress uniform. The military had earlier threatened to remove them by force. But on Friday, following appeals from religious leaders as well as foreign governments to avoid a bloodbath, the interim government said it would blockade the camps but not storm them. "BRAINWASHED" "If you think you're upholding the Muslim Brotherhood, your safe exit from the squares will allow the group to return to its role within the democratic political process," Latif said, addressing Mursi's supporters. "You are brainwashed, subject to psychological manipulation. You are being used as a political bargaining chip." The crisis in the Arab world's most populous country has posed a dilemma for the United States and other Western governments, which had advocated democracy following the overthrow of strongman Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 but grew increasingly uncomfortable with Mursi's Islamist leanings. Many Egyptians shared that concern and frustration grew over Mursi's failure to get to grips with social and economic problems. The new interim government gained the United States' seal of approval on Thursday when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the army had been "restoring democracy" when it toppled Mursi. Under Mubarak, Egypt was a bulwark of U.S. policy in the Middle East, not least because of its peace agreement with Israel. Mursi's overthrow had jeopardized the $1.3 billion annual military aid Egypt receives from Washington. Analysts say civilians in the new government are trying to promote a political solution to the crisis despite resistance from security services that want to crack down on the Brotherhood, encouraged by an outpouring of public anger at the movement. The government has drawn up a transition plan for elections that will start in about six months. But the Brotherhood, decrying what it sees as a coup against a democratically elected leader, says it wants nothing to do with it. The authorities have also rounded up many Brotherhood leaders accused of inciting violence, feeding international concern over a plan to uproot a group that was suppressed for decades until Mubarak's overthrow. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy and Tom Finn; Writing by Angus MacSwan and Matt Robinson; Editing by Louise Ireland and Michael Georgy) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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