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Fears of New Violence in Egypt as E.U. Diplomat Visits Military Continues Crackdown In Egypt
(about 7 hours later)
Fears of a new round of violent confrontations in Egypt loomed on Monday as the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies organized protest marches on Interior Ministry buildings nationwide in defiance of warnings by the military-led government, even as the European Union’s top foreign policy official was visiting Cairo and talking to both sides in an attempt to mediate an easing of the crisis. CAIRO — The Egyptian authorities pressed their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies on Monday, arresting two more senior Islamist leaders and hinting at possibly declaring a state of emergency, even as the European Union’s top diplomat was visiting Cairo and talking to both sides in an attempt to mediate an easing of the crisis.
The European official, Catherine Ashton, who arrived in Egypt late Sunday, was meeting with the interim president, Adli Mansour; his vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei; and the chief of the armed forces, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi. She also was scheduled to meet with some of the remaining Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have not yet been arrested. The police arrested Aboul-Ela Maadi and Essam Sultan, senior figures in the moderate Islamist al Wasat, or Center Party, according to state news media. Prosecutors issued warrants for their arrests last week, accusing the men of inciting violence and “insulting the judiciary,” a crime under Egyptian law.
Ms. Ashton was the first Western emissary to visit the country after a bloody crackdown in Cairo and elsewhere over the weekend left more than 80 Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers dead and hundreds wounded, the second mass killing of Islamists since the military deposed and arrested Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt’s first freely elected president, on July 3. The European Union’s senior foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, who arrived in Egypt late Sunday, was meeting with the interim president, Adly Mansour, his vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, and the defense minister, Gen. Abdul Fattah el-Sisi. She was scheduled to meet later with some of the remaining Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have not been arrested.
Mr. Morsi’s ouster has plunged Egypt into its worst political crisis since the revolution that felled his autocratic predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood has characterized the military’s action as a coup and has demanded the reinstatement of Mr. Morsi, whose whereabouts have not been disclosed since he was removed from office. Ms. Ashton was the first Western emissary to visit the country in the aftermath of bloody street protests in Cairo and elsewhere over the weekend that left more than 80 Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers dead and hundreds wounded, the second mass killing of Islamists by the military since it deposed and arrested Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt’s first freely elected president, on July 3.
In a statement, Ms. Ashton said she was exhorting Egypt’s interim leaders to make good on their pledge for a cohesive, civilian-led government that included all political factions, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies. “This transitional process must lead — as soon as possible — to a constitutional regime, the holding of free transparent elections and the forming of a cabinet with a civilian leadership,” Ms. Ashto’s statement said, according to Ahram Online, the Web site of Egypt’s leading newspaper. Tensions remained high in Cairo, as the Brotherhood and its allies held a number of protest marches Monday — including one to a military location — in defiance of the military’s warnings. Egyptian security officials have issued threats to forcefully dismantle the main Islamist protest sit-in at an intersection in northeast Cairo, where tens of thousands of supporters have been living for weeks.
There were no immediate details on the outcome of her meetings. But Mr. ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and diplomat whose appointment has been widely seen as an attempt by the interim government to present a friendly liaison to the West, told Ms. Ashton that Egypt’s post-Morsi leadership was doing “all what it could in order to reach a peaceful exit to the current crisis,” Ahram Online reported. In a further sign of diminished tolerance by the military, Egyptian news media hinted that a state of emergency could be declared, which could vastly increase the number of arrests. Asked about such a possibility, an unidentified state official was quoted by Ahram Online, the Web site of Egypt’s leading newspaper, as saying: “It should not be excluded. It’s possible. It depends on how things unfold.”
The Muslim Brotherhood said on its Web site that Ms. Ashton was meeting later with at least four members of the Anti-Coup National Alliance, a protest coordination group formed by the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, at a hotel in Egypt’s Giza district, where the Islamists have been staging a mass sit-in since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. The Brotherhood said the delegation would be “embarking from the platform of constitutional legitimacy, aiming to end the military coup.” Mr. Morsi’s ouster has plunged Egypt into its worst political crisis since the revolution that felled his autocratic predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood has demanded the reinstatement of Mr. Morsi, whose whereabouts have not been disclosed since he was removed from office.
The Brotherhood also said it had organized marches of protesters carrying coffins to administration buildings in all Egyptian provinces after evening prayers “to condemn the criminal acts and the firing of live ammunition by Interior Ministry henchmen at peaceful demonstrators.” But the interim authorities have indicated that they are likely to charge him with serious crimes, and have given every sign that they intend to crack down further on the Brotherhood and drive it underground, resurrecting the era when it operated as a banned group under Mr. Mubarak and his predecessors. Neither side has indicated any willingness to compromise.
The interim government has expressed growing impatience with the Islamist demonstrations, and military officials have suggested that they would soon attempt to forcibly remove Islamist protesters from sit-in sites in Cairo and elsewhere. They have given every indication that they are ready to confront the Muslim Brotherhood and drive it underground, resurrecting the era when it operated as a banned group under Mr. Mubarak and his predecessors. In a statement, Ms. Ashton said she was urging Egypt’s interim leaders to make good on their pledge for a cohesive, civilian-led government that included all political factions, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies. “This transitional process must lead — as soon as possible — to a constitutional regime, the holding of free transparent elections and the forming of a cabinet with a civilian leadership,” Ms. Ashton said.
Besides Mr. Morsi, many of the brotherhood’s senior leaders have been placed under arrest. Egyptian news services reported that two other allies of Mr. Morsi, senior members of the Islamist Wasat Party, were arrested early Monday. In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, told reporters that Secretary of State John Kerry had conferred with Ms. Ashton by phone. “We fully support and appreciate her efforts to calm tensions, prevent further violence, bridge political divides, and help lay the basis for a peaceful, inclusive process,” she said.
There were no immediate details on the outcome of Ms. Ashton’s meetings. But Mr. ElBaradei, a Nobel-winning diplomat whose appointment has been widely seen as an attempt by the interim government to present a friendly liaison to the West, told Ms. Ashton that Egypt’s post-Morsi leadership was doing “all what it could in order to reach a peaceful exit to the current crisis,” according to an account of their meeting on Ahram Online.
The Muslim Brotherhood said on its Web site that Ms. Ashton was meeting later with at least four members of the Anti-Coup National Alliance, a protest coordination group formed by the Brotherhood and its supporters, at a hotel in Egypt’s Giza district, where the Islamists have been staging a mass sit-in since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. The Brotherhood said the delegation would be “embarking from the platform of constitutional legitimacy, aiming to end the military coup.”
The Brotherhood also said it had organized marches of protesters, carrying coffins, to administration buildings in all of Egypt’s provinces after evening prayers “to condemn the criminal acts and the firing of live ammunition by Interior Ministry henchmen at peaceful demonstrators.”

Robert F. Worth reported from Cairo, and Rick Gladstone from New York.