Int'l mediation intensifies in Egypt

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CAIRO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Intensified international mediation efforts are underway in Egypt to find a solution to the political standoff and achieve national reconciliation in the deeply-polarized country.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, along with a European envoy and foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, met Monday with Khairat al-Shater, detained deputy chief of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is affiliated with deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

The visit was reported by the state-run news agency MENA.

With permission of the prosecution, the diplomats headed amid intensive security measures to Tora prison, where al-Shater is waiting for trial for inciting violence against protesters and illegally possessing weapons, MENA said.

Ahmed al-Mislimani, Egypt's presidential media advisor, also said Egyptian authorities gave permission to Burns and other envoys to visit Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's once ruling Freedom and Justice Party, at prison. But the Islamic movement rejected the visit, arguing that they should visit Morsi instead.

"Those who want to speak with Egyptians about any issue should meet with Morsi, the elected legitimate president and the only representative of the nation," the movement said on its official Facebook page.

Gamal Heshamt, a leading figure of the movement, said the mediators' request to meet the group's top leader Mohamed Badie was also rejected.

The Western-Arab delegation came within the framework of the political leadership's efforts to deal with pro-Morsi protests, MENA quoted a high-ranking source as saying.

The meeting with al-Shater, which lasted almost an hour, was aimed to reach a consensus over ending the protests without bloodshed.

The meeting was arranged upon request of the international community to resolve the political crisis peacefully, especially after the newly-formed cabinet ordered the interior minister to take legal measures to end the protests, the source said.

The delegation that met with al-Shater also comprised members of the African Union's Wisemen Panel, according to Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper.

"Several members of the (Egyptian) armed forces attended the meeting, which aimed to discuss methods for ending pro-Morsi sit-ins," the paper said, adding that al-Shater asked his visitors to talk with Morsi instead as the country's "legitimate president."

Egypt has become a popular destination for Arab and Western mediators after Morsi's ouster amid massive protests on July 3. Morsi's supporters have staged open-ended sit-ins to demand Morsi's release and reinstatement.

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