An Egyptian street vendor sells national flags and masks of deposed president Mohammed Mursi outside Rabaa Al Adawiya mosque in Cairo, yesterday.
CAIRO: Egypt’s army-installed government said yesterday it would give a chance for mediation to resolve the crisis brought on by the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Mursi, but warned that time was limited.
An imminent battle between security forces and thousands of Mursi supporters standing their ground in two protest camps in Cairo appeared less likely while the mediators talked.
The National Defence Council, made up of civilians and soldiers, said in a statement it backed mediation “that protects the rights of citizens regardless of their affiliations and that spares blood, as long as that happens in a defined and limited time.” It did not specify a deadline.
The statement was issued one day after US and European envoys met separately with members of the new government and allies of Mursi.
The crisis has led Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state, to its most dangerous days since a popular uprising in February 2011 ended US-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule and raised hopes of a new era of democracy.
Mursi became Egypt’s first freely-elected leader in June 2012. But fears that he was tightening an Islamist grip on the country and his failure to ease the economic hardships afflicting most of its 84 million people led to huge street demonstrations, culminating in the army ousting him on July 3.
The military has laid out a “road map” to elections in about six months and promises a return to civilian government. The Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that spent decades in the shadows during Mubarak’s rule, had spurned the road map.
Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since Mursi’s overthrow, including 80 shot dead by security forces in a single incident on July 27, and much of the Brotherhood’s leadership is in custody.
Diplomats say the Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, understand that Mursi will not return as president but they want a face-saving legal formula for him to step down.
Analysts say civilians in the new government are also trying to promote a political solution despite resistance from security services that want to take a hard line on the Brotherhood.
A spokesman for the Mursi camp told Reuters on Saturday it wanted a solution that would “respect all popular desires” — an apparent recognition of the strength of the popular protests against his one-year rule.
But Mursi’s allies also told envoys from the United States and the European Union that they rejected any role in a political settlement for army chief General Abdel Fattah
Al Sisi, who led Mursi’s overthrow.
REUTERS
