Egyptian mediation

6Ashton offers Egypt crisis mediation
August 21, 2013 10:19 AM

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met Egyptian officials last month, including ousted leader Mohammed Morsi
The EU's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, has offered to return to Egypt to help mediate a political solution to the crisis in the country.

"I am more than willing to go back... if they wish me to," she said.

She was speaking to reporters in Brussels ahead of an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers, who will discuss whether to continue with a 5bn-euro (£4.3bn) aid package to Egypt.

Violence in the country has left more than 900 people dead in the last week.

Lady Ashton said member states would have to balance the need to continue to support the people of Egypt, while also reflecting their concerns about the situation.

There is "great concern about acts of violence" among the countries of the EU, Lady Ashton noted, but member states also recognise they need to be "supporting democratic forces" in the country.

Aid in doubt

In November 2012, a 5bn-euro package of aid for Egypt was agreed - including 1bn from the EU, with the rest from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

But Egypt has not been meeting the conditions to receive such aid, so most of it is already frozen. The EU will not release it unless there is progress in fighting corruption and boosting transparency in Egypt.

Supporters of ousted leader Mohammed Morsi have staged demonstrations in London and Paris
The EU says it has sent about 450m euros to Egypt in the last three years.

However, this money is not going to the government: it is being spent on projects to improve sanitation and water supplies, and to help towards construction of the Cairo underground train system.

EU military aid is worth about 140m euros a year, compared to US defence aid worth a much greater $1.3bn (1bn euros, £0.8bn). The US also gives about $250m in other assistance.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait recently pledged $12bn in aid.

Several EU countries - like Denmark - have already cancelled aid projects or have decided to hold back grants to Egypt in recent days.

Germany says its projects to help the poor that are already up and running will continue, but that for now there will be no new aid for the Egyptian government.

Britain has suspended projects with the Egyptian security forces, and revoked some export licences. Other countries have also put military support on hold.

It is thought likely that Wednesday's discussions will consider the military and security support provided by several EU countries to Egypt, and whether there might be some formal suspension of these across the bloc.

Influence at stake

Several sources suggested that member states were reluctant, however, to suspend projects that helped alleviate poverty.

But, sources have told the BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels, the EU is also fearful of doing anything that could result in it losing the influence it believes it has with all sides in Egypt.

Lady Ashton was last in the country in July, when she was allowed to meet the deposed President Mohammed Morsi.

She said the EU was working on "confidence-building measures with the different groups in Egypt, across the political spectrum, to try and help support a political solution".

Diplomats believe that all sides in Egypt recognise that there needs to be a political solution, but there is concern that for now it is events in Egypt that are dictating what happens next.

One senior EU official said the EU's objective remained the same: "To put Egypt on an inclusive path."

"The problem is," he added, right now "we're being pushed further away from the starting post".

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Ashton offers Egypt crisis mediation http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23775560
Egypt court orders Mubarak freed
August 21, 2013 5:44 PM

An Egyptian court has ordered the release on bail of former President Hosni Mubarak in a corruption case.

Reports from Cairo suggest he may be freed from prison on Thursday and state prosecutors say there can be no appeal.

The 85-year-old still faces charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him from power in 2011.

He was sentenced to life in jail last year, but a retrial was later ordered after his appeal was upheld.

Hosni Mubarak has appeared frail in some of his court appearances
That retrial opened in May but Mr Mubarak has now served the maximum amount of pre-trial detention permitted in the case.

State of emergency

On Wednesday, the court in the capital ordered the release of Mr Mubarak, said his lawyer and judicial sources.

Asked when Mr Mubarak could actually leave the prison, his defence lawyer Fareed El-Deeb told Reuters: "Maybe tomorrow."

The ruling came during a hearing on charges that the former president had accepted gifts from state-run publisher al-Ahram.

State prosecutor Ahmed el-Bahrawi was quoted by Reuters as saying that the ruling "is final and the prosecution cannot appeal against it".

Prosecutors have previously brought new charges when courts have ordered Mr Mubarak's release - a move intended to keep the ailing ex-leader in detention.

Analysts say Mr Mubarak's release - if it happens - would be seen by many as a sign the military is rolling back the changes that flowed from the 2011 uprising.

Egypt is under a state of emergency amid the bloodshed which has accompanied the interim government's crackdown on Islamists opposed to the army's ousting of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on 3 July.

Hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood - the movement from which Mr Morsi comes - have been detained including its most senior leader Mohammed Badie, who was wanted over alleged incitement to violence and murder,

Mediation offer

European Union foreign ministers on Wednesday held urgent talks to determine a response to the clampdown.

At the meeting in Brussels, they agreed to stop export licences on military equipment to Egypt and to reassess security co-operation.

Arms are provided by individual countries rather than the EU as a whole, mostly by Germany, France and Spain. The UK has already suspended some of its military help.

But the 28-member block's humanitarian aid to Egypt would remain unaffected, despite calls from some EU politicians to cut the assistance after more than 900 people were killed in clashes last week.

The violence erupted as security forces cleared two sit-ins in Cairo by people demanding the reinstatement of Mr Morsi.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, said: "Assistance to the most needy will remain. All member states feel very strongly they want to continue to support the people of Egypt."

She earlier offered to mediate a political solution to the crisis and is working on "confidence building measures" between the interim government and Brotherhood.

In Washington, senior officials discussed on Tuesday whether to reduce the $1.3bn (£830m) in military aid that the US gives Egypt every year. The meeting reportedly produced no imminent changes to US policy.

BBC © 2013