EU foreign policy chief in Egypt for talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has gone to Egypt in a bid to help rebuild relations between the country's interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood, according to VOA News.

Ashton met Wednesday with Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy and was due to hold talks with a range of leaders, including Egypt's president and prime minister, military chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sissi and Brotherhood officials and religious leaders during the two-day mediation visit.

On Tuesday, Sissi called for a quick government transition based on a political roadmap that envisions presidential elections next spring.

Egypt's military took control of the government after ousting president Mohamed Morsi from power in July. Since then, at least 1,000 people have been killed, mostly Islamists, in a crackdown against militants and supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Millions of Egyptians had staged mass protests against Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, and accused him of consolidating power in Islamist hands and ruining the economy.

Military leaders installed supreme court judge Adly Mansour to take Morsi's place and form an interim government to lead Egypt until new elections restore democratic civilian rule.