EU's Ashton to push for reconciliation on Egypt trip

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will push for a reconciliation between Egypt's army-backed government and the Muslim Brotherhood during her visit to Cairo this week, European diplomatic sources said today.
The Brotherhood expects Ashton's three-day visit, which began today, to bring "great progress" to reconciliation attempts since the army toppled President Mohammed Morsi on July 3 after mass protests against his rule.
"She (Ashton) is coming to explore the possibilities for a return to a transition in which all sides can participate," European diplomatic sources said in Cairo.
"Things are still not completely black and white, although the situation is extremely difficult and reconciliation is becoming a difficult word in Egypt," sources said.

One European diplomatic source in Cairo said Ashton still wanted to provide political support to various sides in Egypt to ensure smooth progress toward a stable democratic process with the participation of all sides, including the Islamists headed by the Brotherhood.
Ashton is actually seeking to ensure two things. The first is that the Brotherhood does not boycott the political process in its entirety inclusive of voting on the Constitution and taking part in the elections.

The second is that the present regime should not continue to deal with the crisis through security measures only at the expense of political solutions, the sources said.

The army has ensured that a political road map will deliver fair elections, but the Brotherhood has consistently rejected the new political settlement and demanded the reinstatement of Morsi.
During here visit in late July, Ashton had failed to bring a compromise between the army and the Brotherhood.
Ashton will hold talks with key members of the government, including interim President Adly Mansour, Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi and army chief and Defence Minister Gen Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
She will also meet senior Brotherhood leaders during which they will demand an end to the arrest campaign launched by Egypt's interim government against the group leaders and members and the release of those arrested without charges, in exchange for a halt to protests, according to Al-Ahram.

Official sources did not rule out categorically the possibility of a meeting between Ashton and Morsi, as she did before.
The EU had condemned a violent crackdown on pro-Morsi protest camps by security forces in Cairo on August 14 which led to hundreds of deaths. Ashton voiced fears at the growing levels of violence and polarisation in the country.
The government has since intensified crackdowns on the group, which was recently banned by a court while many Brotherhood members were arrested and jailed.
"This would lead sooner or later to a state of sustained tensions that can result in an explosion," one source said.