AFTER VISITING MORSI, ASHTON REFUSES TO DESCRIBE HIS DETENTION CONDITIONS

       Cairo, 23 Ramadhan 1434/31 July 2013 (MINA) – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton completed a two-hour visit to the deposed Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, on Monday afternoon at an unknown location.

       Ashton, who met Egyptian military officials before visiting Morsi, told reporters that she had seen his facilities and confirmed that he was aware of events outside of his detention.

       “I saw where he was. I do not know where he is but I saw the facilities that he has,” said Ashton. “He has access to information, through TV and newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation.” according to Middle East Monitor (MEMO) report monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

       Meanwhile, she did not comment on him being prevented from communicating with the outside world and with his family members. She declined to give more details about his detention conditions.

       Ashton, the top EU official, was the first to visit Morsi since he was deposed by the army General, Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, on July 3 and was taken to Morsi’s detention location by a military apache.

        Ashton said that they talked about the need to resolve the current deadlock in the Egyptian political arena. “We were able to talk about the need to move forward,” she said. (T/P012/E1)

Mi’raj  News Agency (MINA)