Ashton: Egypt's Morsi in good health, has access to news

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday in Cairo that Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Morsi, who she met late on Monday, is in good health and has access to the news. "He is well and has access to the news," Ashton said in a televised press conference on state-run Nile TV, noting that she does not know the location where Morsi is held. Meanwhile, the EU top diplomat stressed that her visit to Egypt is not to dictate any side but to help find a solution to the ongoing crisis on the ground. "There is no field for violence or dissent, and demonstrations should be peaceful," she said. Ashton, who arrived in Cairo on Sunday evening, was given access to Morsi late on Monday. Her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said on Twitter that the two had two-hour "in-depth" talks. Morsi has been detained since the military deposed him on July 3 in response to millions of protesters' demand. He is held incommunicado at an unknown location which Egyptian officials say is safe. After his ouster, investigations were ordered for him on the charge of spying for foreign bodies, including Islamic Hamas movement in Gaza, to gain assistance in his prison escape during the 2011 unrest that toppled then President Hosni Mubarak. Ashton has been making contacts with Egypt's military-backed interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood, with which Morsi is affiliated, in a bid to mediate national reconciliation in the turmoil-hit country. Her current visit to Egypt, which has been extended to Tuesday, is second of its kind in less than two weeks after the fall of Morsi. The deposed leader's supporters have been camping out at Rabaa Al Adawiya Square in Cairo, condemning the military's move as "a coup" and vowing not to leave the site until Morsi returns to power. Clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters have so far resulted in more than 200 deaths since early July, according to official figures. On the day of Ashton's arrival, conflicts between the two sides left at least 80 dead and some 800 others injured. Ashton held talks Monday with senior Egyptian officials including interim President Adli Mansour, interim Vice President for International Affairs Mohamed ElBaradei and Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. She also met representatives of the pro-Morsi coalition. According to Egyptian presidential advisor Mostafa Hegazi, Ashton's visit is not meant to interfere in Egypt's internal affairs, and the government appreciates the EU's efforts to ease the escalating tension in the country.