Morsi's family accuses army of abducting him

The family of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi today accused the powerful military of 'abducting' the Islamist leader and vowed to take legal action against the army chief.

'We are taking local and international legal measures against Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group,' Shaimaa Mohamed, Morsi's daughter, told reporters.

'We hold the leader of the military group and the whole of his putschist group responsible for the health and safety of president Morsi,' she said at a press conference here.

Morsi, 61, has been held at an undisclosed location, without charge, since being ousted from power on July 3.

The statement is the first from Morsi's family since the country's first democratically-elected president was deposed from office.

One of Morsi's sons, Osama, termed his father's detention as the 'embodiment of the abduction of popular will and a whole nation.'

He said the family will 'take all legal actions' to end his detention.

'What happened is a crime of kidnapping,' he said. 'I can't find any legal means to have access to him.'

He said that the family met with Morsi for the last time on July 3, shortly before his ouster. Since then, they have had no contact with him.

'We warn Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and his coup leaders against harming the life, health or safety of the legitimate President, our father,' Osama said.

El-Sissi, the country's defence minister and army chief, led the military's ouster of Morsi after four days of mass protests demanding the Islamist president step down.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement has refused to recognise the new military-backed administration and continues to hold almost daily street protests in the capital, demanding his reinstatement.