Morsi rejects Ashton's pressure to step down and recognise coup

Deposed president Mohamed Morsi rejected pressure by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to tender his resignation, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagi told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday. "President Morsi rejected Ashton's attempts to pressure him into stepping down, resigning or accepting proposals that would have amounted to recognition of the military coup," he added. Earlier on Tuesday, Ashton said she had met with Morsi, asserting that the ousted president was in good health and was being treated well. The EU's top diplomat described the meeting as "frank, open and warm," adding that Morsi had access to newspapers and television. Asked by AA if she felt Morsi was ready to accept the military-imposed status quo, Ashton declined to answer. "I will not put words in his mouth," she said. Ashton said she did not know where the deposed president was being held, adding that she had been flown to the meeting venue by a military helicopter. According to al-Beltagi, Ashton spent two hours with Morsi. "I expect that she tried to pressure him to step down, resign or call upon his supporters to end their sit-in," he said. One MB leader told AA earlier on condition of anonymity that Morsi had told Ashton that he would not abandon his constitutional legitimacy as Egypt's first democratically elected president in exchange for a "safe exit." The MB leader said Ashton had proposed that the Muslim Brotherhood end all demonstrations and sit-ins in exchange for the release of Morsi and all other detained group leaders. "But Morsi refused, insisting that he would not exchange legitimacy for a safe exit," said the Brotherhood source. The Brotherhood leader went on to say that Morsi had told Ashton that his July 3 ouster at the hands of the military had constituted "a military coup." Morsi, he added, had made it clear that he was the legitimate president – voted into office via free and fair elections – and that his departure must come through democratic means as stipulated by the constitution, now suspended. Morsi reportedly told Ashton that he had intended to call for a referendum on his presidency after parliamentary polls, which were supposed to be held in October or September. Al-Beltagi argued that Morsi had insisted on his position to "defend the people's legitimacy and complete the goals of the January (2011) revolution." The Muslim Brotherhood leader described Ashton's statement as "an attempt to beautify an ugly regime." "If the visit was a humanitarian one, she should have asked officials to allow his family and lawyers to see him," he added. Morsi has not been seen in public since the military ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president on July 3 following mass protests against his regime. Asked about what would happen next, al-Beltagi said he expected army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi "to pursue his strategy of tarnishing the image of Rabaa al-Adawiya Square (where pro-Morsi demonstrators continue to stage a month-long sit-in), carrying out massacres from time to time, or trying to hinder the flow of supplies to pro-Morsi protesters." Asked about the outcome of a Monday meeting between Ashton and a delegation from a pro-Morsi alliance, al-Beltagi said the gathering had produced "nothing new." Ever since his ouster, thousands of pro-Morsi demonstrators have been staging daily protests and sit-ins to defend his democratic legitimacy and demand his reinstatement.