EU envoy meets with Egypt's Morsi

Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi is in good health and is following his country’s political crisis through the media despite his captivity, E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton announced Tuesday. Ashton met Morsi at an undisclosed location – his first known contact with the outside world since being detained by the military on July 3 – as part of an E.U. mission to promote a compromise in the standoff between the military authorities and the pro-Morsi coalition led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Ashton said Morsi "has access to information, in terms of TV, newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation." She refused to comment on the substance of their conversation, saying, "I told him that I was not going to represent his views."

The Financial Times reports that the purpose of Ashton’s visit is to promote a compromise in which the Muslim Brotherhood would end its street protests demanding Morsi’s reinstatement, in exchange for unspecified concessions – including the ousted president’s release from detention – by the authorities. She also met with military chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, as well as with two officials in the military-appointed government installed after Morsi’s ouster -- interim president Adly Mansour, and vice president for international affairs Mohamed ElBaradei.

Ashton also held talks with the coalition pressing for Morsi’s reinstatement. "There were no initiatives presented by Ashton or us, she just heard updates on the situation since her last visit," said Mohamed Ali Bishr, a member of the pro-Morsi delegation.

The E.U., which is Egypt’s largest trading partner, has grown increasingly concerned by the escalating political confrontation, which saw 80 people killed last weekend as security forces sought to clear Morsi supporters from the streets. Last week, Egypt's authorities announced that the ousted president was being investigated for charges including murder, stemming from a 2011 jailbreak when he escaped detention during the revolution that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak. Ashton’s visit appears to be an effort to press both sides towards a compromise that appears increasingly elusive.

Meanwhile the interim government is accused of attempting to restore the much-feared Mubarak-era secret police units. Following Saturday’s killing of at least 80 pro-Morsi demonstrators, Egypt’s interior ministry announced Monday the resurrection of the state security investigations service, known as Mabahith Amn ad-Dawla.

The units, a symbol of police oppression, were nominally shut down following Mubarak’s ouster in 2011 and replaced with the new national security service (NSS).

Aida Seif el-Dawla, a prominent Egyptian human rights activist, told the Guardian that “it's a return to the Mubarak era.”

"These units committed the most atrocious human rights violations. Incommunicado detentions, killings outside the law. Those were the [units] that managed the killing of Islamists during the 1990s. It's an ugly authority that has never been brought to justice."

Ashton’s Monday meetings coincided with a march by Morsi's supporters marched towards security headquarters in Cairo, despite a warning from the National Defence Council that it would take "decisive and firm action" against demonstrators if they went beyond their right to peaceful protest.

The marches began after backers of Morsi broke their Ramadan fast. Groups moved from their key sit-in site by the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo towards the interior ministry and two other security forces buildings.

Thousands of demonstrators, men and women, chanted slogans against army chief Earlier, the Anti-Coup Alliance of groups protesting against Morsi's removal also called for a massive turnout for demonstrations on Tuesday.

They urged Egyptians "to go out into the streets and squares, to regain their freedom and dignity - that are being usurped by the bloody coup - and for the rights of the martyrs assassinated by its bullets."

The bloodshed in the Arab world's most populous nation has sparked mounting international concern, and Washington on Monday "strongly" condemned the violence.

A group of Egyptian NGOs issued a statement on Monday calling for Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim to be sacked for what it called Saturday's "massacre."

A crackdown on Morsi supporters continued on Monday, with the arrest of the president and vice president of the moderate Islamist Wasat party, which has protested against Morsi's removal.

Interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday he was optimistic that violence could be halted and sit ins could be dispersed peacefully. 

"Once we contain the violence that is taking place, then there will be room for a peaceful way to disband the demonstrations in different parts of the country and go into a serious dialogue," he said.

Al Jazeera and wire services