Egypt’s Salafi’s Nour party and the secular Tamarod movement refused to meet U.S. Under Secretary of State William Burns, who met provisional President Adli Mansour.
Burns visited Mansour at Ittihadiya Presidential Palace, while the discussed issues have not been yet learned and the U.S. official also plans to meet members of the military command.
The diplomat arrived in the capital on Sunday night to pressure on “putting an end to violence and begin a transition that leads to a democratically-elected inclusive government”, according to a communiqué of the Department of State.
A source with Nour party told the press that the organization’s leader, Younes Makhioun, refused to meet Burns, but refrained from providing reasons.
On the other hand, the spokesman of Tamarod explained his party’s denial to meet the U.S. official is due to what he described as the interference of the United States in Egyptian internal affairs.
Unconfirmed reports affirm that Morsi is imprisoned in Tora, in the downtown district of Maadi, where his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, is also imprisoned.
Contained Violence Marks Start of the Day in Egypt
The contained violence following events in the recent days could explode in this capital today when supporters and rivals of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced mass protests in favor and against interim authorities.
In Sinai Peninsula, three people died and 17 others were injured early Monday morning in an attack with mortar shells against a bus carrying employees of a cement factory operated by the Army, revealed official sources.
The incident was registered near El Arish city, in the northern part of the Egyptian peninsula, where hours before the Armed Forces announced to have killed the 5 perpetrators of a recent attack against the airport of that locality.
A spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) denied any involvement in the incident and held the Mujabarat (Intelligence Service) responsible for the attack aimed at justifying the military coup against President Mohamed Morsi.
Military sources refuted that one of their vehicles had been the target of a dynamite attack in Sinai in which a person was killed; the perpetrator of the attack died when manipulating the explosive device, said the spokesperson.
However, the attention is focused today in protests in favor and against the ousted president, detained since July 3 and subjected to interrogations since yesterday following accusations of espionage, incitement to violence and damage to the economy during his 367 days in the country’s presidency.