Senior US diplomat William Burns today met jailed head of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing Saad El-Katatni and discussed ways to end the ongoing turmoil in Egypt following the ouster of the country's first freely elected President Mohammed Morsi.
El-Katatni, head of Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was arrested among other Islamist leaders a day after military removed Morsi on July 3.
Deputy Secretary of State Burns, along with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Attiyah, last night visited the Brotherhood's second-man, Khairat El-Shatar in the high-security Al-Aqrab prison in Tora.
The trilateral delegation aimed to present El-Shater with an initiative to break the political deadlock and violence cycle that has engulfed the country since the ouster of Morsi, state-run Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The delegation stayed with Shater for one hour in the jail, according to the source.
However, Assistant Interior Minister for Media and Relations Abd el-Fattah Osman has denied a visit to Shater in jail by Burns, Qatari and UAE foreign ministers and the EU representative.
US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are expected to arrive in Cairo later today to meet with the country's interim leaders to break through the political impasse.
Meanwhile, the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, consisting of Islamist parties and groups, called for yet another swathe of mass demonstrations backing Morsi, paying no heed to the government's orders to end ongoing protests at two sites in Greater Cairo's Nasr City and Giza districts.
An Egyptian court yesterday set a trial date for six top Brotherhood leaders on 25 August, further infuriating Morsi's loyalists.
Egypt's army-backed government reiterated its calls on Saturday for supporters of Morsi to abandon their protest camps, promising them a safe exit.
"If you think you're upholding the Muslim Brotherhood, your safe exit from the squares will allow the group to return to its role within the democratic political process," an interior ministry spokesman said.
Morsi's Brotherhood, which operated semi-clandestinely for decades until Mubarak's overthrow, has balked at the transition plan. Well over 200 people have been killed in street violence since Morsi's ouster.
