EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warned that “confrontation cannot be the solution to the problems currently facing Egypt” Sunday, as reports claimed 42 Muslim Brotherhood members had been killed in clashes with soldiers outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo, where former President Mohamed Morsi is believed to have been held since being ousted by the military last Tuesday in a political coup.
After the army confirmed several of its own soldiers had been critical injured in the violent exchanges, with an officer declared dead, Morsi’s party the Muslim Brotherhood issued an official statement on its website Sunday insisting “we will not be party to shedding of Egyptian blood, even if others shed our blood”.
The military confessed to having made 200 arrests and seized weapons, ammunition and Molotov cocktails, confirming the deaths of at least five pro-Morsi activists it charged with having attempted a “terrorist” attack on the headquarters to free Morsi, who is thought to be under arrest in the compound.
Ashton meanwhile voiced the “grave concern” felt by the Egyptian public little over than a year after Morsi assumed office as the first democratically-elected President in the post-Arab Spring transitioning Egypt. Issuing an “urgent call for an immediate end to violence”, sparked by a revolt against Morsi’s perceived Islamicisation of the formerly secular country and increasing grasp on power, she stressed that “Egypt's democratic project will depend on all democratic forces participating fully and freely as a key principle for a credible return to a democratic transition”.
Calling for an “inclusive” national dialogue and speedily held democratic elections to install Morsi’s successor, she committed the EU’s support to calm the eight-day long tensions as she concluded that she would mediate with “all her contacts” on the ground in Egypt, including the under-fire Muslim Brotherhood.
Meanwhile military sources were reported as claiming that Morsi had attempted to dismiss his former Defence Minsiter, military commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from his government in the lead up to his ousting by al-Sisi, according to Egyptian daily El-Watan Sunday. According to the unnamed officials, Morsi had sought to instigate a vote of no confidence in the commander from within the ranks of military officials, even attempting to identify his potential successor.
US Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Ashton’s comments in a statement Saturday, in which he declared himself “deeply troubled by the violence across Egypt”. Similarly denying allegiance with any single political player on the Egyptian landscape, he added: “We strongly condemn any and all incitement to violence or attempts to divide and provoke, rather than unite, all Egyptians. The United States strongly condemns the violence by all parties and urges calm.”
The United States has always been and remains committed to the democratic process, not to any party or personality. We want Egyptians to make their democracy work for the good of all Egyptians. At this sensitive moment, we call on all Egyptian leaders to condemn the use of force and prevent further violence among their supporters and we urge all those demonstrating to do so peacefully,” he concluded.