Morsi supporters continue protests in Egypt

Supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi held firm Sunday on their insistence that he be reinstated after talks with a senior US official aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the crisis. Following a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the political arm of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood stressed its continued commitment to "legitimacy, which stipulates the return of the president, the constitution and the Shura Council," referring to the upper house of parliament. The US envoy's visit, which followed trips by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, was the latest move in a diplomatic drive to break the deadlock between Morsi loyalists and the army-installed interim government. Morsi's supporters have insisted since his July 3 ouster that they would not accept any resolution to the country's crisis that did not include his reinstatement. Their latest declaration suggested that Burns' visit had failed to shift that position. "We affirm our welcome of any political solutions proposed on the basis of constitutional legitimacy and rejection of the coup," said the statement from the Freedom and Justice Party. Burns later met Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy in a bid to broker a compromise between the two sides. Washington also kept up the pressure from afar, with Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel urging army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to support an "inclusive political process," the Pentagon said. Tensions have mounted over a looming police move to dismantle two Cairo sit-ins by Morsi loyalists, though Fahmy insisted that authorities had "no desire to use force if there is any other avenue that has not been exhausted." "There is an open invitation for all political forces to participate. The door is open for everybody, including the Brotherhood, to participate in the process," Fahmy told reporters. "If the political landscape does not have space for everyone, it cannot be an inclusive democracy," he added. Source: AFP