Egypt's president meets Ashton

Egypt's Interim President Adly Mansour on Thursday met with Catherine Ashton, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, who is currently visiting Cairo for talks with senior officials. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed ties between Egypt and the EU, and discussed the country's latest political developments and the implementation of the roadmap. They also touched the EU's support for the democratic process in Egypt. Ashton who arrived here earlier Tuesday night , first held talks with Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy and declined to give any statements after the meeting. The foreign ministry said in a press release issued later that the meeting dealt with relations between Egypt and the European Union, especially with regards to aid and investment, and recommendations of the joint working groups between egypt and the EU held in Nov.2012 . The foreign ministry official spokesman Badr Abdul Atti said they also discussed the nile basin initiative and the developments of the ethiopian Al-Nahda or Renaissance dam and the need to reach a satisfactory settlement to the dispute. For his part, Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. SheikhAhmed el-Tayyeb also met on Wednesday with Catherine Ashton, and reviewed the latest developments in Egypt and efforts to reinstate security and stability besides Al-Azhar's initiatives and the EU efforts to support Egypt.